Our heroes are in the habit of disappointing us, and my most recent experience in this vein starts with a curious but quite engaging Web site, bloggingheads.tv, where the major issues of our day are argued passionately, insightfully, humorously, and at length by two complete, total nerds.
Being a nerd myself, I do not use this word pejoratively, but rather to illuminate the beauty of our wired world, in which a nerd like myself has an audience who would otherwise see me and cross the street for fear of being nerd-infected. Nerds are not the same as “losers,” though I have been called both in the same sentence.
These two gentlemen, Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus, score extremely high on the Nerd Meter. Wright is a science geek, Kaus is a policy wonk, and between the two of them, there is enough dorkiness in their virtual room to fill M.I.T. and the Kennedy School of Government.
Perhaps I sound harsh in my assessment, which is no reflection on the quality of their program. With the magic of modern technology, Blogginheads pits Wright and Kaus, side by side, in a “diavlog” (you know, combine “dialog,” “video,” and “blog”), where the two protagonists debate the issues of the day.
Kaus, former writer for The New Republic and Newsweek, is now best known for “kausfiles,” a feature on Slate.com which at its best exposes conventional wisdom and at its worse is a dull micro-parsing of the New York Times.
On the other hand, I’ve been an unabashed fan of Wright’s wonderful prose since reading “Three Scientists and Their Gods,” and will force “The Moral Animal” on unsuspecting friends. I love the man’s written work. But on Blogginheads, Wright doesn’t come off as gracefully.
He’s always interrupting poor Mickey, and framing everything like a debate. “Here is why your argument is intellectually and morally inferior,” is a common refrain of Wright’s. And while I almost always agree with Wright and he is wholly eloquent, it bugs me he can be kinda rude and long-winded.
But the problem, ultimately, was the contest. Wright and Kaus asked viewers to send in suggested slogans for Bloggingheads, which they would paste on T-shirts, mugs, and temporary tattoos for sale. As a fan, I eagerly e-mailed suggestions. And Wright dissed me, on air.
Wright and Kaus: They bloviate so you don’t have to
Sure, he didn’t mention me by name, and his dismissal was so innocuous that it couldn’t even be called “mild,” but still. Bookfraud does not take an insult to his honor lightly!
My slogan entries included the following, which, to be honest, suck complete, total ass:
“Two talking heads. One serious throwdown”
“Cyberspace Meets Cybergenius”
“Where MickBob and Friends debate the world”
“Intelligent discussion by scary disembodied heads”
“No girls allowed”
Merely ignoring me wasn’t enough. No. On air, Wright mentioned my favorite entry: “Bloggingheads.tv: Where we bloviate so you don’t have to.” But he wasn’t approving, just dismissive. He didn’t even bother to print it out! And the winners were totally lame, that’s all I’ll say about that.
(To see the clip, click here. If it doesn’t play the right part, click on the “Viewer e-mail…” link. It doesn’t work well with Macs).
When you see your idols fall, it’s usually best done at a distance. There’s been lots and lots of fallen literary “heroes” of late, from the sublimely fraudulent (James Frey) to the ridiculously plagiaristic (Kaavya Viswanathan).
Nothing has really hit me personally. Oh, I’ve heard stories, witnessed very good writers acting very poorly, and seen people crushed in numerous ways: an MFA student sees his story taken to shreds by the man who inspired him to write. Conferences are a veritable cornucopia of Writers Behaving Badly, with married people engaging in misbegotten hookups, and vomit strategically pooled all over campus, and those same hung-over writers trashing anyone and anything in class just because they were wasted and didn’t get any the night before or perhaps because they did get some, trashing them worse, even, than if they saw “veritable cornucopia” in a story.
Maybe because I expect fiction writers to act like this, when something particularly awful comes to light, it doesn’t bother me.
History is replete with besotten, cruel, terrible people who happen to write (that’s for a whole other blog). You usually just don’t find out about it until the writer is dead. Unlike the drug-inhaling, wife-beating jock or the prostitute-patronizing, bribe-taking politician, writers are usually discreet, and if they’re famous enough, they get the “monstrous artist” get out jail card.
I mean, I don’t think Wright is any of these. I will still read anything he slaps his byline on. He really didn’t do anything wrong. But he dissed me, anonymously, granted, and perhaps I just have a delicate constitution these days. O.K., enough already! I got some rejections this weekend! I admit it. It’s my right to be pissed and act in stupid, immature ways unbecoming for a middle-aged man, writing blog entries with no singular theme, idea, or decent ending. So I’ll repeat my favorite kicker.
Feh.
Ouches!
But really. I’ll just take my No-Girls-Allowed self back to the Oberkampf. Or Finsbury Park.
Oo, I like “No Girls Allowed!” It’s funny and self-depracating, with just a grain or two of truth.
Who doesn’t like that?
Though, as far as rejections go, I have two ways of reacting-temper tantrum followed by pouting, or taking to my bed and letting the depression ride me for a couple weeks.
This is quite mild, and perfectly understood.
Ouches!
But really. I’ll just take my No-Girls-Allowed self back to the Oberkampf. Or Finsbury Park.
Ouches!
But really. I’ll just take my No-Girls-Allowed self back to the Oberkampf. Or Finsbury Park.
Oo, I like “No Girls Allowed!” It’s funny and self-depracating, with just a grain or two of truth.
Who doesn’t like that?
Though, as far as rejections go, I have two ways of reacting-temper tantrum followed by pouting, or taking to my bed and letting the depression ride me for a couple weeks.
This is quite mild, and perfectly understood.
Oo, I like “No Girls Allowed!” It’s funny and self-depracating, with just a grain or two of truth.
Who doesn’t like that?
Though, as far as rejections go, I have two ways of reacting-temper tantrum followed by pouting, or taking to my bed and letting the depression ride me for a couple weeks.
This is quite mild, and perfectly understood.
Sooo, they invited you to a party and then criticized your hostess gift?
Clods.
I’m sorry, could you explain that again?
You watch a poor man’s Hannity and Colmes (and, really, I didn’t know it could get much poorer) where you understand that this hero is an obnoxious prick, you submit something for his consideration and then take offense when he sallies forth with his prickiness?
I thought you said you had recovered from your recent illness.
Seriously, it’s this sort of thing that makes me loath to share my work with anyone I would ever consider a mentor. It’s also this sort of thing that makes me fell all the more justified in refusing to read the works of people I know to be colossal assholes, even if they’re considered brilliant writers. I’ve been taken to task for this stance because there are a large number of great/classic writers who were jerks and I would essentially be saying their canon would be off limits as a result.
Yup. I don’t care if your writing makes me orgasm with a whispered syllable, you ain’t getting a dime of my money if you can’t marshal basic human decency.
b: no girls allowed on bloggingheads; you’re fine here.
madame d: you like “no girls allowed,” but bob wright certainly does not. and they’ve had female bloggingheads since the time i made my suggstion, so i’ll take credit for it.
bernita: i woulda been fine if wright had just ignored me altogether.
brian f.: well, i needed to clear out the ear wax this morning.
i will stand up for bloggingheads, however: hannity and colmes is “barney and friends” to wright and kaus’s philosophy lectures. ain’t no comparison.
robert wright isn’t a prick, just a trifle obnoxious at times, which is part of the schtick, and i didn’t expect him to like my suggestions. just not to mention that he hated them.
i don’t like reading jerks, either. but what about dead ones?
Sooo, they invited you to a party and then criticized your hostess gift?
Clods.
Sooo, they invited you to a party and then criticized your hostess gift?
Clods.
I’m sorry, could you explain that again?
You watch a poor man’s Hannity and Colmes (and, really, I didn’t know it could get much poorer) where you understand that this hero is an obnoxious prick, you submit something for his consideration and then take offense when he sallies forth with his prickiness?
I thought you said you had recovered from your recent illness.
Seriously, it’s this sort of thing that makes me loath to share my work with anyone I would ever consider a mentor. It’s also this sort of thing that makes me fell all the more justified in refusing to read the works of people I know to be colossal assholes, even if they’re considered brilliant writers. I’ve been taken to task for this stance because there are a large number of great/classic writers who were jerks and I would essentially be saying their canon would be off limits as a result.
Yup. I don’t care if your writing makes me orgasm with a whispered syllable, you ain’t getting a dime of my money if you can’t marshal basic human decency.
I’m sorry, could you explain that again?
You watch a poor man’s Hannity and Colmes (and, really, I didn’t know it could get much poorer) where you understand that this hero is an obnoxious prick, you submit something for his consideration and then take offense when he sallies forth with his prickiness?
I thought you said you had recovered from your recent illness.
Seriously, it’s this sort of thing that makes me loath to share my work with anyone I would ever consider a mentor. It’s also this sort of thing that makes me fell all the more justified in refusing to read the works of people I know to be colossal assholes, even if they’re considered brilliant writers. I’ve been taken to task for this stance because there are a large number of great/classic writers who were jerks and I would essentially be saying their canon would be off limits as a result.
Yup. I don’t care if your writing makes me orgasm with a whispered syllable, you ain’t getting a dime of my money if you can’t marshal basic human decency.
b: no girls allowed on bloggingheads; you’re fine here.
madame d: you like “no girls allowed,” but bob wright certainly does not. and they’ve had female bloggingheads since the time i made my suggstion, so i’ll take credit for it.
b: no girls allowed on bloggingheads; you’re fine here.
madame d: you like “no girls allowed,” but bob wright certainly does not. and they’ve had female bloggingheads since the time i made my suggstion, so i’ll take credit for it.
bernita: i woulda been fine if wright had just ignored me altogether.
brian f.: well, i needed to clear out the ear wax this morning.
i will stand up for bloggingheads, however: hannity and colmes is “barney and friends” to wright and kaus’s philosophy lectures. ain’t no comparison.
robert wright isn’t a prick, just a trifle obnoxious at times, which is part of the schtick, and i didn’t expect him to like my suggestions. just not to mention that he hated them.
i don’t like reading jerks, either. but what about dead ones?
bernita: i woulda been fine if wright had just ignored me altogether.
brian f.: well, i needed to clear out the ear wax this morning.
i will stand up for bloggingheads, however: hannity and colmes is “barney and friends” to wright and kaus’s philosophy lectures. ain’t no comparison.
robert wright isn’t a prick, just a trifle obnoxious at times, which is part of the schtick, and i didn’t expect him to like my suggestions. just not to mention that he hated them.
i don’t like reading jerks, either. but what about dead ones?
“i don’t like reading jerks, either. but what about dead ones?”…Ok. I don’t understand this to a point.
My heros, outside Bill the Cat, I like for their work not their personalities.
Rejection sucks on any level much less from a mentor. So I am with you there.
Sorry about the diss. You already know that Wright’s comment is not a reflection on your work.
“i don’t like reading jerks, either. but what about dead ones?”…Ok. I don’t understand this to a point.
My heros, outside Bill the Cat, I like for their work not their personalities.
Rejection sucks on any level much less from a mentor. So I am with you there.
Sorry about the diss. You already know that Wright’s comment is not a reflection on your work.
“i don’t like reading jerks, either. but what about dead ones?”…Ok. I don’t understand this to a point.
My heros, outside Bill the Cat, I like for their work not their personalities.
Rejection sucks on any level much less from a mentor. So I am with you there.
Sorry about the diss. You already know that Wright’s comment is not a reflection on your work.
How do you know that it was a put-down?
I haven’t seen the video, but I imagine he was a little bereft, put in an awkward place that he didn’t expect. Oh, the subtext is perfectly clear to those who are willing to look: _I wish I’d thought of that_, he secretly wishes, _I wish I could express myself freely without the shadow of a thousand moral inquisitors come down round my head_.
Along these lines, anyway.
How do you know that it was a put-down?
I haven’t seen the video, but I imagine he was a little bereft, put in an awkward place that he didn’t expect. Oh, the subtext is perfectly clear to those who are willing to look: _I wish I’d thought of that_, he secretly wishes, _I wish I could express myself freely without the shadow of a thousand moral inquisitors come down round my head_.
Along these lines, anyway.
How do you know that it was a put-down?
I haven’t seen the video, but I imagine he was a little bereft, put in an awkward place that he didn’t expect. Oh, the subtext is perfectly clear to those who are willing to look: _I wish I’d thought of that_, he secretly wishes, _I wish I could express myself freely without the shadow of a thousand moral inquisitors come down round my head_.
Along these lines, anyway.
You never caese to entertain me.
You never caese to entertain me.
You never caese to entertain me.
mariemm3: you’re right, i shouldn’t take the diss personally, since he’s never met me. but still. still!
br.: i know it was a put down. it’s all i can think about. it seeps into my thoughts. it haunts my dreams.
but you’re right, he’s just a jealous bastard.
phoenix: it’s our job here at bookfraud to entertain, first and foremost.
mariemm3: you’re right, i shouldn’t take the diss personally, since he’s never met me. but still. still!
br.: i know it was a put down. it’s all i can think about. it seeps into my thoughts. it haunts my dreams.
but you’re right, he’s just a jealous bastard.
phoenix: it’s our job here at bookfraud to entertain, first and foremost.
mariemm3: you’re right, i shouldn’t take the diss personally, since he’s never met me. but still. still!
br.: i know it was a put down. it’s all i can think about. it seeps into my thoughts. it haunts my dreams.
but you’re right, he’s just a jealous bastard.
phoenix: it’s our job here at bookfraud to entertain, first and foremost.