Mark (PanasonicYouth) will read the entire Twilight series so you don't have to.

If there's one thing that bothers me, it's unfounded arguments ON THE INTERNET. A lot of people here (myself included) have taken Twilight fans to task for their support of the series of novels written by Stephanie Meyer. At face value, there's a lot to discount about the books: they reinvent the vampire mythology we've come to accept as a society without any respect to history; they are aimed at a young adult audience and quite possibly might be fairly terrible; but most importantly, they've whipped a nation of pre-pubescent girls and middle-aged women into a frenzy that doesn't seem to be going away. 

And that's the real issue here: Twilight fans, most especially Twi-hards, have ruined the book for thousands of people who have never even read a page simply by being annoying. That's why I'm here: as a non-Twilight fan, I'm going to read the book for you.

Now, I knew once I came up with this idea, it couldn't have been entirely original. There are a few hilarious summaries flying around the web, in both written and video form, and then there's this. So me being a guy (and a gay one, at that) isn't that unique at all. 

But it seems that no one is approaching this devoid of the hysteria surrounding it. Even TwilightGuy, who just came back from TwiCon (no, seriously, it was real), seems to have become a Twilight fan himself. Plus, I'm looking to observe the series in less of a campy way.

I have no interest in the series as works of literature, though that's how I'd like to analyze them. I was inspired by my fan interviews of Twilight fans at Comic-Con 2009 to start this project in earnest, mostly because, like Insane Clown Posse fans, I found the fandom to be completely fascinating. 

But what makes me particularly qualified to embark on such a journey? I'd like to consider myself a writer and a fan of fiction. I've been reading since I was in first grade. I wrote all through junior high and college, won a couple journalism awards in high school for excellence in writing, got a couple papers published in college, and currently work as one of the staff writers for Buzznet.

Essentially, not much. I read and I analyze. You'll just have to trust me from here on out.

I'll be posting two chapter reviews per week. Possibly three if the chapters are short. Even more if I can breeze through this. You can just follow the RSS for the journal only, as I don't imagine I'll be adding any photos to the account. 

Oh, and to prove that I'm really doing this:

Enjoy the ride.