On The Simpsons episode ‘Pork and Burns’, Marge Simpson becomes obsessed with a minimalist lifestyle influenced by Japanese culture and makes everyone give up things that once brought them joy, e.g., the family pig and Lisa’s saxophone. Sounds like Marge just read the bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. Perhaps it will take another bestselling author, Joyce Carol Oates, to snap Marge out of it.
In the 2008 episode “Dial N for Nerder,” Lisa imagined herself in jail and asked if the bookmobile had any Joyce Carol Oates. When Lisa was told all they had was Danielle Steel, she screamed. Oates’ latest book (she’s written more than 100) is “A Book of American Martyrs: A Novel.” It will be released on February 7, 2017. The Simpsons airs Sundays at 8pm on FOX. Oates is set to play herself.
