Update: Someone has lent Wife a book by the author discussed below. I guess there’s just no escaping the bugger. — The Eds.
Most of us sane folk generally avoid contact with snobs, assholes, and other loathsome types. We also try not to give them our financial support.
Such an arrangement plays out like this:
JERK: You stupid shit. I’m smarter, better, and handsomer than you.
YOU: Here’s my money.
JERK: I am so supremely talented that the rules don’t apply to me.
YOU: Here’s my money.
JERK: Fuck you.
YOU: Here’s my money.
As ludicrous as that sounds, it’s not a far stretch from what happens when we patronize artists who are jerks. And patronize we do.
And five wives to show for it
The obvious example are the entertainers — musicians, athletes, actors — whose condescension and exquisite sense of entitlement make them revolting.
Writers, with less media coverage than Russell Crowe or Christina Aguilera, don’t have the rep for being such types, at least in the eye of the general public. But you and I know better.
The lecherous middle-aged fart preying on coeds at MFA programs or the seductress of married men working the conference circuit, the full-of-themselves jackholes who slam other writers in workshop, the monstrous “genius” who destroys others but gets away with it because of his talent.
The problem is, some of them are great writers whose work can enrich our lives. I’m thinking of one writer in particular, of course. This person is known as a snotty, pretentious ass and a genius with the word processor.
I know the former is true from both media reports and personal accounts. A magazine story chronicled this writer’s refusal to associate with other writers on a trip, deigning them unworthy of his or her time; I have heard from a reliable source that this writer showed up to a group dinner at an expensive restaurant, ate, and left without paying, as if entitled to be wined and dined.
Unfortunately, this (young) person has published several books to almost universal praise, won awards, been feted and lauded, and generally thought to be one of the best spinners of fiction today.
(And if you think I’m going to say who it is, let there be a cottage industry on the response board trying to figure it out.)
For these reasons, I can’t bring myself to buy one of his or her highly acclaimed novels. Can’t do it, even if it would make me a better writer.
A psycho writing teacher (and I have had more than one) would scream at me and say, “Fool! Read everything. You have to learn as much as possible, even if the writer runs over cats for fun.”
“I’m not buying Mein Kampf, either,” I would say back.
In the 20th Century, when media made private lives public, we can see plenty of brilliant writers who were about as nice as cancer. Saul Bellow was notoriously churlish and mean, evidenced by his five marriages. D.H. Lawrence (nutjob!) thought of himself as a Superman, and once wrote to a dying woman that he was glad she wouldn’t be around any more. And Hemingway was…well, in addition to turning on his friends and being misogynist while leeching off women, Hemingway was way way way fucked up.
Great writer
I’ve read all of these folk, and as a writer, have purloined and learned from their work. But I take comfort in the knowledge that they are dead, and any money I spend on their work goes to their issue, who probably suffered mightily for it.
All the bloody time I make this compromise in my life. I’ll watch a Russell Crowe movie even after he plunked a telephone at a hapless desk clerk. I rooted for Sammy Sosa and the 2003 Cubs even though Sosa was a selfish, steroid-inhaling loser. Brahms was a hateful crank, but I love his music.
Really, my position is indefensible. Just as I wouldn’t buy a book by a lousy writer just because he or she is a saint, I probably shouldn’t disqualify writers who are crappy human beings. In fact, that would probably remove half of the Great Books ever produced.
So I’ve got a new attitude. I’m going to start using the library.
Argh–you stole my punch line about the library!
Are we all going to guess about the writer? Please tell me it’s not Oates.
it better not be oates
I kind of wish the writer in question was Jonathan Safran Foer because… that would amuse me greatly. It’d be like, who woulda thought! Such a well spoken precious lad in interviews, where were the warning signs etc.,
… & It obviously takes very little to amuse me.
Anyway–this entry–best conclusion ever.
Argh–you stole my punch line about the library!
Are we all going to guess about the writer? Please tell me it’s not Oates.
Argh–you stole my punch line about the library!
Are we all going to guess about the writer? Please tell me it’s not Oates.
it better not be oates
it better not be oates
I kind of wish the writer in question was Jonathan Safran Foer because… that would amuse me greatly. It’d be like, who woulda thought! Such a well spoken precious lad in interviews, where were the warning signs etc.,
… & It obviously takes very little to amuse me.
Anyway–this entry–best conclusion ever.
I kind of wish the writer in question was Jonathan Safran Foer because… that would amuse me greatly. It’d be like, who woulda thought! Such a well spoken precious lad in interviews, where were the warning signs etc.,
… & It obviously takes very little to amuse me.
Anyway–this entry–best conclusion ever.
Chicken shit. Name names already. I have no compunctions telling people that I think Jonathan Franzen is a pretentious whorebag who–by all accounts–is an excellent writer but I simply will not feed the animals, no matter what I can learn from him. There are other writers to learn from. There’s nothing he can teach me that I can’t get from reading a writer who is gracious and down to earth. And whether you buy the book or check it out of the library, money goes in the stinky bloodfart’s pocket.
Just say no to good writers/lousy human beings.
e.p.: sorry to have stolen your punchline. no comment re: oates.
dora: see above. and why “it better not be oates”?
courtney: everybody wants to take down foer a notch. me too.
brian f.: yeah, i’m chickenshit. but i agree about what you say of franzen, especially about his oprah/no oprah moment, in which he got all the publicity while trashing her because her show wasn’t “intellectual” enough.
I’m kind of hoping for Foer, too.
Actually, the Foer bashing makes me sad. I’ve met him twice and both times he’s been kind, soft spoken, and pleasant. I’ve read several interviews with him and haven’t seen him bash another writer, whereas Franzen has gone on record against a number of authors. (Sadly, if I’m ever published, I’ll probably have to stop badmouthing Franzen or look quite the hypocrit.) What’s the point? It reminds me of the folks in the MFA program who need to vivisect the work of others to feel better about their own writing.
But if someone has had a bad experience with Foer, I’d be interested in hearing about it. Not that I’m hear to spread juicy gossip. Well, maybe I am. A little.
Shop at Rag and Bone used bookstore in Linden Hills if you live in Minnesota, or find a favorite used place in your area. That way, you get to have the enlightening experience Psycho Teacher would recommend, while supporting a local business owner vs. Asshole Writer.
And from what I’ve heard about Oats, that’s my guess too.
jordan: just to end the speculation, it isn’t js foer. or his wife.
brian f.: foer strikes me as a decent fellow. i think people are kinda sick of him, though, and nobody likes instant success. i have nothing bad to say about him
david foster wallace is also known for taking down other writers, but in strictly critical sense, so it’s supposed to be ok. all for art.
alex: the used bookstore route is not a bad one to take.
i didn’t realize that jco had such a rep.
The poet Jack Spicer believed in something he called Oppositional Magic – the idea that we should intellectually engage and challenge other writers, and be critical, in order to push our fellow writers and ourselves to be better. Sometimes, it might even mean saying something nasty about the writer’s work – and the writer. Now, snob-writer who won’t talk to other writers and who stiffs them on the tab at a dinner, well, that’s just being an asshole and reveals some major insecurity – and since every writer is insecure, this person must be very, very insecure. Probably deserves a little verbal smacking around.
Chicken shit. Name names already. I have no compunctions telling people that I think Jonathan Franzen is a pretentious whorebag who–by all accounts–is an excellent writer but I simply will not feed the animals, no matter what I can learn from him. There are other writers to learn from. There’s nothing he can teach me that I can’t get from reading a writer who is gracious and down to earth. And whether you buy the book or check it out of the library, money goes in the stinky bloodfart’s pocket.
Just say no to good writers/lousy human beings.
Chicken shit. Name names already. I have no compunctions telling people that I think Jonathan Franzen is a pretentious whorebag who–by all accounts–is an excellent writer but I simply will not feed the animals, no matter what I can learn from him. There are other writers to learn from. There’s nothing he can teach me that I can’t get from reading a writer who is gracious and down to earth. And whether you buy the book or check it out of the library, money goes in the stinky bloodfart’s pocket.
Just say no to good writers/lousy human beings.
e.p.: sorry to have stolen your punchline. no comment re: oates.
dora: see above. and why “it better not be oates”?
e.p.: sorry to have stolen your punchline. no comment re: oates.
dora: see above. and why “it better not be oates”?
courtney: everybody wants to take down foer a notch. me too.
brian f.: yeah, i’m chickenshit. but i agree about what you say of franzen, especially about his oprah/no oprah moment, in which he got all the publicity while trashing her because her show wasn’t “intellectual” enough.
courtney: everybody wants to take down foer a notch. me too.
brian f.: yeah, i’m chickenshit. but i agree about what you say of franzen, especially about his oprah/no oprah moment, in which he got all the publicity while trashing her because her show wasn’t “intellectual” enough.
I’m kind of hoping for Foer, too.
I’m kind of hoping for Foer, too.
yes, think about how many writers–and painters and dancers and singers–would not be read if we read for the artist’s personality and not his work? and we’ll never know what kind of, and how many, truly horrible jerks are in the english canon. on the other hand, ICK! so much is taken out of the reading when behind the writing is a pretentious, gross person, and it’s a distracting.
Actually, the Foer bashing makes me sad. I’ve met him twice and both times he’s been kind, soft spoken, and pleasant. I’ve read several interviews with him and haven’t seen him bash another writer, whereas Franzen has gone on record against a number of authors. (Sadly, if I’m ever published, I’ll probably have to stop badmouthing Franzen or look quite the hypocrit.) What’s the point? It reminds me of the folks in the MFA program who need to vivisect the work of others to feel better about their own writing.
But if someone has had a bad experience with Foer, I’d be interested in hearing about it. Not that I’m hear to spread juicy gossip. Well, maybe I am. A little.
Actually, the Foer bashing makes me sad. I’ve met him twice and both times he’s been kind, soft spoken, and pleasant. I’ve read several interviews with him and haven’t seen him bash another writer, whereas Franzen has gone on record against a number of authors. (Sadly, if I’m ever published, I’ll probably have to stop badmouthing Franzen or look quite the hypocrit.) What’s the point? It reminds me of the folks in the MFA program who need to vivisect the work of others to feel better about their own writing.
But if someone has had a bad experience with Foer, I’d be interested in hearing about it. Not that I’m hear to spread juicy gossip. Well, maybe I am. A little.
Shop at Rag and Bone used bookstore in Linden Hills if you live in Minnesota, or find a favorite used place in your area. That way, you get to have the enlightening experience Psycho Teacher would recommend, while supporting a local business owner vs. Asshole Writer.
And from what I’ve heard about Oats, that’s my guess too.
Shop at Rag and Bone used bookstore in Linden Hills if you live in Minnesota, or find a favorite used place in your area. That way, you get to have the enlightening experience Psycho Teacher would recommend, while supporting a local business owner vs. Asshole Writer.
And from what I’ve heard about Oats, that’s my guess too.
jordan: just to end the speculation, it isn’t js foer. or his wife.
brian f.: foer strikes me as a decent fellow. i think people are kinda sick of him, though, and nobody likes instant success. i have nothing bad to say about him
david foster wallace is also known for taking down other writers, but in strictly critical sense, so it’s supposed to be ok. all for art.
alex: the used bookstore route is not a bad one to take.
i didn’t realize that jco had such a rep.
jordan: just to end the speculation, it isn’t js foer. or his wife.
brian f.: foer strikes me as a decent fellow. i think people are kinda sick of him, though, and nobody likes instant success. i have nothing bad to say about him
david foster wallace is also known for taking down other writers, but in strictly critical sense, so it’s supposed to be ok. all for art.
alex: the used bookstore route is not a bad one to take.
i didn’t realize that jco had such a rep.
The poet Jack Spicer believed in something he called Oppositional Magic – the idea that we should intellectually engage and challenge other writers, and be critical, in order to push our fellow writers and ourselves to be better. Sometimes, it might even mean saying something nasty about the writer’s work – and the writer. Now, snob-writer who won’t talk to other writers and who stiffs them on the tab at a dinner, well, that’s just being an asshole and reveals some major insecurity – and since every writer is insecure, this person must be very, very insecure. Probably deserves a little verbal smacking around.
The poet Jack Spicer believed in something he called Oppositional Magic – the idea that we should intellectually engage and challenge other writers, and be critical, in order to push our fellow writers and ourselves to be better. Sometimes, it might even mean saying something nasty about the writer’s work – and the writer. Now, snob-writer who won’t talk to other writers and who stiffs them on the tab at a dinner, well, that’s just being an asshole and reveals some major insecurity – and since every writer is insecure, this person must be very, very insecure. Probably deserves a little verbal smacking around.
yes, think about how many writers–and painters and dancers and singers–would not be read if we read for the artist’s personality and not his work? and we’ll never know what kind of, and how many, truly horrible jerks are in the english canon. on the other hand, ICK! so much is taken out of the reading when behind the writing is a pretentious, gross person, and it’s a distracting.
yes, think about how many writers–and painters and dancers and singers–would not be read if we read for the artist’s personality and not his work? and we’ll never know what kind of, and how many, truly horrible jerks are in the english canon. on the other hand, ICK! so much is taken out of the reading when behind the writing is a pretentious, gross person, and it’s a distracting.
I was thinking Foer. Just by what I have read in the media.
because it would be like finding out your grandparents were really brother and sister. call that reference, you get a cookie.
quinn: i think it’s important to intellectually engage — and challenge — other writers. the problem is that sometimes they become pissing matches (usually between dudes).
sadly, i don’t think this particular writer is insecure, just a raging megomaniac. which might be a cover for insecurity…
fwc: right you are. take all the jerks out of art, and there wouldn’t be much left. it’s so much easier to separate the art from artist when the artist is dead, and we don’t have to admit that we derive pleasure from a living, breathing asshole.
phoenix: man, people around here have it for foer. just because he’s young, rich, acclaimed.
dora: just like in “middlesex.”
gimme that cookie.
I was thinking Foer. Just by what I have read in the media.
I was thinking Foer. Just by what I have read in the media.
because it would be like finding out your grandparents were really brother and sister. call that reference, you get a cookie.
because it would be like finding out your grandparents were really brother and sister. call that reference, you get a cookie.
quinn: i think it’s important to intellectually engage — and challenge — other writers. the problem is that sometimes they become pissing matches (usually between dudes).
sadly, i don’t think this particular writer is insecure, just a raging megomaniac. which might be a cover for insecurity…
fwc: right you are. take all the jerks out of art, and there wouldn’t be much left. it’s so much easier to separate the art from artist when the artist is dead, and we don’t have to admit that we derive pleasure from a living, breathing asshole.
phoenix: man, people around here have it for foer. just because he’s young, rich, acclaimed.
quinn: i think it’s important to intellectually engage — and challenge — other writers. the problem is that sometimes they become pissing matches (usually between dudes).
sadly, i don’t think this particular writer is insecure, just a raging megomaniac. which might be a cover for insecurity…
fwc: right you are. take all the jerks out of art, and there wouldn’t be much left. it’s so much easier to separate the art from artist when the artist is dead, and we don’t have to admit that we derive pleasure from a living, breathing asshole.
phoenix: man, people around here have it for foer. just because he’s young, rich, acclaimed.
dora: just like in “middlesex.”
gimme that cookie.
dora: just like in “middlesex.”
gimme that cookie.
Bookfraud: I’ve seen a few pissing matches. Been in at least one during grad school – but I think that arose more out of two unpublished writers defending their own aesthetics, which, for some unpublished writers, has all the emotional significance of justifying their existence in the world. Without a rigid aesthetic, some unpublished writers feel they might as well be plumbers. Fortunately, I’ve been told, a bit of publication tends to soften that drive towards a rigid idea of art.
I own plenty of books written by total bastards…I try to overlook it. In most cases, I can separate the writing from their persona. I’m sure plenty of the writers I admire are, in real life, pretentious shits, but I don’t want to think about it.