Monday, June 29, 2009
Books / Teh Internets Everybody's a Critic
Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 11:32 AM
There's a great roundup here of the big literary gossip of the weekend.
In brief: A Boston Globe book reviewer named Roberta Silman said that Alice Hoffman's new novel wasn't as good as her previous books. Hoffman then went ballistic on Twitter, calling Silman an "idiot." She further says Silman isn't a writer, and back in the good old days, writers used to review writers. Then Hoffman suggested that her complaining about this review was proud feminism, because she's not just sitting down and taking it. Then she suggests that Boston is a second-rate city.
And then she publishes Silman's e-mail and phone number online.
In conclusion, Alice Hoffman is a dolt. Her Twitter account no longer exists.
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1
On one hand, it cracks me up when writers (or musicians or artists) throw fits like this. On the other hand, I like Hoffman's books. Her immaturity disappoints me.
2
Turns out Roberta Silman is a published author though. http://robertasilman.com/works.htm Alice Hoffman is even more of a moron.
Even so, the fairly frequently expressed opinion by a lot of published authors that reviewers should have to write books to be taken seriously as reviewers is pretty fuckin' elitist. My response wavers between "fuck you I ain't reading your shit now if you don't think I'm good enough to read it" and "fuck you I'm gonna read your crap and put my fuckin review on the goddamn internet and you'll just have to fuckin live with it" but usually ends up being "making an effort to find and then read or not read that crap means I'd be taking time away from my already huge reading list."
Even so, the fairly frequently expressed opinion by a lot of published authors that reviewers should have to write books to be taken seriously as reviewers is pretty fuckin' elitist. My response wavers between "fuck you I ain't reading your shit now if you don't think I'm good enough to read it" and "fuck you I'm gonna read your crap and put my fuckin review on the goddamn internet and you'll just have to fuckin live with it" but usually ends up being "making an effort to find and then read or not read that crap means I'd be taking time away from my already huge reading list."
5
Personally, I don't think anyone should be allowed to READ a book unless they, the reader, ARE ALSO A PUBLISHED AUTHOR! That would elevate the critical discussion enormously. Best wishes.
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