Disappear here
November 24, 2024 1:34 AM Subscribe
After spending years probing authors’ lives for clues to their work—and, far more often, fielding requests from writers who would kill for an ounce of media attention—I find myself most in awe of those who insist on never explaining themselves. from What the Internet Age Is Taking Away From Writers [The Atlantic; ungated]
I'm not sure it's ever been super easy to be a reclusive weirdo and a bestselling author, and I am suspicious of the ones who pulled it off; I have to presume most of them were secretly well-connected somehow, because I'm no longer naive enough to believe in books selling themselves through the power of their undeniable genius or what have you. Ideally, you could just release your book into the world and it would take on its own life as a strutting homunculus that neither needed nor wanted you anymore, but dutifully sent home money. Certainly if I thought that had ever been typical, I would mourn its loss. I don't think it was.
What does seem to have been lost, more or less, is the content mill that one could lean one's back against and work for a day's wages. Pulpy paperback westerns, romances, men's action (non-euphemistic), men's action (euphemistic), horror, etc.; stuff where the author's name mattered less than an eye-catching cover, and books were meant to be disposable items that quickly fell out of print. Did that marketplace ever really exist, or is it too a romantic fantasy? Well, it doesn't exist now, either way.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:56 AM on November 24 [8 favorites]
What does seem to have been lost, more or less, is the content mill that one could lean one's back against and work for a day's wages. Pulpy paperback westerns, romances, men's action (non-euphemistic), men's action (euphemistic), horror, etc.; stuff where the author's name mattered less than an eye-catching cover, and books were meant to be disposable items that quickly fell out of print. Did that marketplace ever really exist, or is it too a romantic fantasy? Well, it doesn't exist now, either way.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:56 AM on November 24 [8 favorites]
The Internet as self-marketing leads to bad personal outcomes for authors. Ok, at least one author as the example of what not to do.
As an author your big claim to Internet fame starts by paraphrasing others work about abortion. The tweet attracts a response and 'debate' challenge from Ben Shapiro. Internet users see you are reactive with insulting responses calling those who don't agree child or idiot and given the vastness of the Internet you eventually attract attention of people who want to take you down a notch. The author is not helping his image when one of his 'Internet Firebrand' political argument responses states he wants to give your kids a dog, let the kids get attached, and then kill the dog.
The additional eyes on your life results in finding a case where you made threats to life of your ex-wife, your baby, and the guy she left you for. The eyes lead to people leaving reviews about your books as "not good" and that gets highlighted in your lawsuit VS your trolls as one of the John Doe's. Naming 50+ people as John Doe means now you have dedicated people wanting to see you lose the lawsuit and lose in life. Because you are reactive with insults eventually you are arguing with an account that calls itself the toilet of the author for over 3 years at this point.
The author has created enough of vortex of (shit? Negativity? stupid?) you attract the attention of a self-styled cybersecurity professional who tells you that a Swedish citizen is behind the actual swattings of your home*. She also claims that a Federal Judge is part of the swatting group. What does the author do with this info? Well, file it in a pro-se motion tied to the John Doe lawsuit of course. And her actions like taking a bikini model, slapping her face on the model and when the eyes from the authors online *coff* fans *coff* find the original picture she deletes the modified model picture and claims it never happened showing the additional eyes are not helping her.
Anyone who questions you can become the target of your online ire. Eventually an authors agent questions the author's version of things and she gets online threats from the cyber security gal but also from someone who's history of being an ass online had one of his nom de plumes over 20 years ago as a mocking entry in Urban Dictionary. Mr. UD threats were bad enough to have his x dot com account suspended***.
In the vortex of BS the author has made of his life an actual swatter makes the claim the author had paid for swats so he could sue his local police department over their response to his being swatted. And while the swatters Florida case has a plea deal the authors case VS the police department is still proceeding.
Because the author claims he needs social media to market his books the scoreboard has:
1) Lost John Doe suit and a payout for not only his lawyers for the suit, but costs for the other side.
2) Your writing efforts are self derailed by choosing to pick online fights****. Your book efforts that have not went anywhere include other parts of your trilogies, a book on how you totally defeated your online harassers, a Trump satire of some sort, and a book about how Tiny Tim grows up and becomes a Paul Kersey like character dealing with the killers of Ebeneezer Scrooge.
3) The author attracts people who make threats to others helping to keep the vortex of BS turning with their actions**
4) When the author's name comes up other authors have a 'christ, what an asshole' reaction.
5) At least one female author had book sales increase because the author attracted attention to her by claiming she plagiarized the front cover of one of her books.
The author in this case could help himself by just limiting his online posting and topics.
* turns out no, the Swedish citizen was not doing the swatting. And she gets called out in the FBI/county sheriff court filing.
** The author's agent who is now part of the BS vortex got sexually harassed after entering the vortex.
*** Mr. urban dictionary blames the nazi's for silencing his online voice. Because Musk is a Nazi.
**** Poorly. His online fights are more stupid than smart. To the point he's now known more for telling people who re-post his past stupid statements how they will enjoy prison than anything else.
posted by rough ashlar at 5:18 AM on November 24 [5 favorites]
As an author your big claim to Internet fame starts by paraphrasing others work about abortion. The tweet attracts a response and 'debate' challenge from Ben Shapiro. Internet users see you are reactive with insulting responses calling those who don't agree child or idiot and given the vastness of the Internet you eventually attract attention of people who want to take you down a notch. The author is not helping his image when one of his 'Internet Firebrand' political argument responses states he wants to give your kids a dog, let the kids get attached, and then kill the dog.
The additional eyes on your life results in finding a case where you made threats to life of your ex-wife, your baby, and the guy she left you for. The eyes lead to people leaving reviews about your books as "not good" and that gets highlighted in your lawsuit VS your trolls as one of the John Doe's. Naming 50+ people as John Doe means now you have dedicated people wanting to see you lose the lawsuit and lose in life. Because you are reactive with insults eventually you are arguing with an account that calls itself the toilet of the author for over 3 years at this point.
The author has created enough of vortex of (shit? Negativity? stupid?) you attract the attention of a self-styled cybersecurity professional who tells you that a Swedish citizen is behind the actual swattings of your home*. She also claims that a Federal Judge is part of the swatting group. What does the author do with this info? Well, file it in a pro-se motion tied to the John Doe lawsuit of course. And her actions like taking a bikini model, slapping her face on the model and when the eyes from the authors online *coff* fans *coff* find the original picture she deletes the modified model picture and claims it never happened showing the additional eyes are not helping her.
Anyone who questions you can become the target of your online ire. Eventually an authors agent questions the author's version of things and she gets online threats from the cyber security gal but also from someone who's history of being an ass online had one of his nom de plumes over 20 years ago as a mocking entry in Urban Dictionary. Mr. UD threats were bad enough to have his x dot com account suspended***.
In the vortex of BS the author has made of his life an actual swatter makes the claim the author had paid for swats so he could sue his local police department over their response to his being swatted. And while the swatters Florida case has a plea deal the authors case VS the police department is still proceeding.
Because the author claims he needs social media to market his books the scoreboard has:
1) Lost John Doe suit and a payout for not only his lawyers for the suit, but costs for the other side.
2) Your writing efforts are self derailed by choosing to pick online fights****. Your book efforts that have not went anywhere include other parts of your trilogies, a book on how you totally defeated your online harassers, a Trump satire of some sort, and a book about how Tiny Tim grows up and becomes a Paul Kersey like character dealing with the killers of Ebeneezer Scrooge.
3) The author attracts people who make threats to others helping to keep the vortex of BS turning with their actions**
4) When the author's name comes up other authors have a 'christ, what an asshole' reaction.
5) At least one female author had book sales increase because the author attracted attention to her by claiming she plagiarized the front cover of one of her books.
The author in this case could help himself by just limiting his online posting and topics.
* turns out no, the Swedish citizen was not doing the swatting. And she gets called out in the FBI/county sheriff court filing.
** The author's agent who is now part of the BS vortex got sexually harassed after entering the vortex.
*** Mr. urban dictionary blames the nazi's for silencing his online voice. Because Musk is a Nazi.
**** Poorly. His online fights are more stupid than smart. To the point he's now known more for telling people who re-post his past stupid statements how they will enjoy prison than anything else.
posted by rough ashlar at 5:18 AM on November 24 [5 favorites]
Thanks for posting this, chavenet. I'm unlikely to read the book that sparked this article, but it was interesting to read about Eve Babitz. Her Wikipedia page suggests a busy life, lived in or near the spotlight, and yet somehow I'd never heard of her. Didion was and remains an icon.
To kittens for breakfast's point, I can think of only one genuinely "reclusive" author (or as reclusive as you can be today) I've met who is by any metric very successful. In conversation, they talked about having people who ran their public life, including handling email and other communication, and talked about almost literally not accessing the internet. Their reclusiveness was facilitated, in sum, by a range of personal and business partners willing to assume the burdens of their public life. Most authors--most people--just don't have that.
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:52 AM on November 24 [4 favorites]
To kittens for breakfast's point, I can think of only one genuinely "reclusive" author (or as reclusive as you can be today) I've met who is by any metric very successful. In conversation, they talked about having people who ran their public life, including handling email and other communication, and talked about almost literally not accessing the internet. Their reclusiveness was facilitated, in sum, by a range of personal and business partners willing to assume the burdens of their public life. Most authors--most people--just don't have that.
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:52 AM on November 24 [4 favorites]
It's refreshing to read an article about reclusive authors without a single reference to Salinger.
posted by kozad at 6:00 AM on November 24 [6 favorites]
posted by kozad at 6:00 AM on November 24 [6 favorites]
Ferrante had built an enormous following without so much as revealing her actual name. That is a truly rare accomplishment,
More a happenstance, I would have thought. Then too, the author is Italian, and I'm not sure that the Promote The Author thing is as big a thing there as it is elsewhere.
Did that marketplace ever really exist, or is it too a romantic fantasy? Well, it doesn't exist now, either way.
I think one can argue that it does still exist, in the form of self publishers who churn out the stuff mostly on Kindle to group of dedicated addicts. (I'd dig a bit for some examples, but I need to get back to polishing a one-off book I'm readying for self-publish. Stay tuned!)
posted by BWA at 6:15 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]
More a happenstance, I would have thought. Then too, the author is Italian, and I'm not sure that the Promote The Author thing is as big a thing there as it is elsewhere.
Did that marketplace ever really exist, or is it too a romantic fantasy? Well, it doesn't exist now, either way.
I think one can argue that it does still exist, in the form of self publishers who churn out the stuff mostly on Kindle to group of dedicated addicts. (I'd dig a bit for some examples, but I need to get back to polishing a one-off book I'm readying for self-publish. Stay tuned!)
posted by BWA at 6:15 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]
I need to get back to polishing a one-off book I'm readying for self-publish.
I'm flogging (such as I do, which isn't much/enough) a nonfiction manuscript to few small presses hoping for a bite, but I expect I'll end up self-publishing. It's pretty clear from some publishers, who ask about your social media profile (which I don't really have, or want to work on) upon submission, that they're also hoping writer's socials will help them market and sell books. The author's public profile is obviously an important consideration for them to make a book project viable. Makes sense, whether I like it or not, and it almost certainly means that regardless of the merit of my work, I'll be self-publishing.
Thing is, both Babitz and Didion are very much worth reading. The comparisons and contrasts they offer are instructive. The social movements and situations they write about should be read from their differing points of view. Is the current balance of book publishing actually tilting from one sort of personality to another? It feels like it. Not sure there's much to be done though.
posted by kneecapped at 7:25 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]
I'm flogging (such as I do, which isn't much/enough) a nonfiction manuscript to few small presses hoping for a bite, but I expect I'll end up self-publishing. It's pretty clear from some publishers, who ask about your social media profile (which I don't really have, or want to work on) upon submission, that they're also hoping writer's socials will help them market and sell books. The author's public profile is obviously an important consideration for them to make a book project viable. Makes sense, whether I like it or not, and it almost certainly means that regardless of the merit of my work, I'll be self-publishing.
Thing is, both Babitz and Didion are very much worth reading. The comparisons and contrasts they offer are instructive. The social movements and situations they write about should be read from their differing points of view. Is the current balance of book publishing actually tilting from one sort of personality to another? It feels like it. Not sure there's much to be done though.
posted by kneecapped at 7:25 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]
I'm not sure it's ever been super easy to be a reclusive weirdo and a bestselling author
Why does just not wanting to be a public figure imply something odd?
Actually I for one am largely uninterested in what authors look like, have for breakfast, any opinions on politics (unless that's their topic), own as pets, think of their parents.
I went to a book signing for Tama Janowitz new book after 15ish years after she had a semi famous film made from here first novel. She was essentially wearing a costume from the 80's wacky nyc counter-culture style. I was slightly embarrassed for her not moving on and wonder if there is a block in NYC that has everyone frozen in a cool 80's style, well wouldn't surprise me and I'd make a point of getting to a cool bar just like I sat on a repro of that famous couch from Friends even though it was an outdoor fiberglass copy that was perfectly uncomfortable.
So I tear out the author photos of most books, but few as it's easy to skip over on the kindle...
posted by sammyo at 9:07 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]
Why does just not wanting to be a public figure imply something odd?
Actually I for one am largely uninterested in what authors look like, have for breakfast, any opinions on politics (unless that's their topic), own as pets, think of their parents.
I went to a book signing for Tama Janowitz new book after 15ish years after she had a semi famous film made from here first novel. She was essentially wearing a costume from the 80's wacky nyc counter-culture style. I was slightly embarrassed for her not moving on and wonder if there is a block in NYC that has everyone frozen in a cool 80's style, well wouldn't surprise me and I'd make a point of getting to a cool bar just like I sat on a repro of that famous couch from Friends even though it was an outdoor fiberglass copy that was perfectly uncomfortable.
So I tear out the author photos of most books, but few as it's easy to skip over on the kindle...
posted by sammyo at 9:07 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]
Many of the authors I read seem like they’d prefer to be reclusive, but they end up with much bigger public profiles to market their books. The marketing budgets of publishers, never amazing, seem to have been drastically cut in favor of authors doing their own marketing online. So many try to be part-time influencers in addition to actually writing.
I do know of a few authors I’d describe as… not exactly reclusive, but unobtrusive? They do few or no interviews, are not active on social media, etc. But they all seem to be the authors who like having day jobs, and publish much less frequently than those who try to make a living from their writing.
posted by learning from frequent failure at 9:17 AM on November 24 [2 favorites]
I do know of a few authors I’d describe as… not exactly reclusive, but unobtrusive? They do few or no interviews, are not active on social media, etc. But they all seem to be the authors who like having day jobs, and publish much less frequently than those who try to make a living from their writing.
posted by learning from frequent failure at 9:17 AM on November 24 [2 favorites]
I met a lady at Maker Faire that is trying to get a book on how to make light up skirts published, but they won't do it until she has a huge social media follower count. Her booth was specifically intended to get people following her so they will publish it.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:20 AM on November 24 [4 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:20 AM on November 24 [4 favorites]
Besides some of her political commitments, I respect Sally Rooney for sticking to her rule of "I'm happy to talk about my work, but I won't talk about my personal life - I'm really not that interesting."
The marketing budgets of publishers, never amazing, seem to have been drastically cut in favor of authors doing their own marketing online.
This certainly is a big part of it - a good number of professions where previously there were various gatekeepers who got to determine "quality" have shifted (for largely economic reasons) to making decisions on who gets a record/book/comedy special/acting/etc. deal based on follower counts. The gatekeeper model was not ideal for all sorts of reasons, but I'm not sure basing who to cast on who has a large TikTok following is really any better, for anyone.
posted by coffeecat at 9:23 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]
The marketing budgets of publishers, never amazing, seem to have been drastically cut in favor of authors doing their own marketing online.
This certainly is a big part of it - a good number of professions where previously there were various gatekeepers who got to determine "quality" have shifted (for largely economic reasons) to making decisions on who gets a record/book/comedy special/acting/etc. deal based on follower counts. The gatekeeper model was not ideal for all sorts of reasons, but I'm not sure basing who to cast on who has a large TikTok following is really any better, for anyone.
posted by coffeecat at 9:23 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]
but they won't do it until she has a huge social media follower count.
Is this a myth or actually the case?
The enjoy prison author seems to think this is true, but he also thinks that saying 'enjoy prison' over and over is gonna help him. The author's agent who's now in the enjoy prison authors vortex of BS does not affirm the idea of social media size becomes published author path exists these days.
posted by rough ashlar at 10:13 AM on November 24 [1 favorite]
Is this a myth or actually the case?
The enjoy prison author seems to think this is true, but he also thinks that saying 'enjoy prison' over and over is gonna help him. The author's agent who's now in the enjoy prison authors vortex of BS does not affirm the idea of social media size becomes published author path exists these days.
posted by rough ashlar at 10:13 AM on November 24 [1 favorite]
How to market anymore is something of a quandary, and I think it would be even if the average publisher had huge money to blow. Netflix is loaded, and I mostly don't even know their shows and movies exist, and I am online all the time. So a writer with a social media following would be crazy not to use it, and a writer without one, for better or worse, will probably have to cultivate one if they want people to know about their books.
The thing is, though, that factors that make you an internet celebrity don't necessarily imply you can make good art. If you're a hit on a visual platform, you're probably hot. That's nice, but it doesn't imply talent. Or maybe you're a funny speaker, or you're good at schmoozing, or...I mean, these are okay things to be, but they don't mean you can write.
But maybe that's okay, because if you're a charismatic enough person, people might buy your "merch" (i.e., your books) anyway. Hopefully you're not a groomer or a sexual predator who uses his minor celebrity to inflict himself on fans, and are just kind of a happy grifter who doesn't really hurt anybody, just craps out lame material. That's kind of a literary success story these days.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:18 AM on November 24 [2 favorites]
The thing is, though, that factors that make you an internet celebrity don't necessarily imply you can make good art. If you're a hit on a visual platform, you're probably hot. That's nice, but it doesn't imply talent. Or maybe you're a funny speaker, or you're good at schmoozing, or...I mean, these are okay things to be, but they don't mean you can write.
But maybe that's okay, because if you're a charismatic enough person, people might buy your "merch" (i.e., your books) anyway. Hopefully you're not a groomer or a sexual predator who uses his minor celebrity to inflict himself on fans, and are just kind of a happy grifter who doesn't really hurt anybody, just craps out lame material. That's kind of a literary success story these days.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:18 AM on November 24 [2 favorites]
I don't... care, at all, about the writer, maybe at most a passing interest, hunh, where did they come up with that idea? As in, I don't wish them ill or anything: I just don't care very much: I'm here to read the books. I pretty much only read SF and murder mysteries, maybe some fantasy or historical fantasy, and I can't think of a time where I've gone any further than looking up the author on Wikipedia, and I've not done much of that. I certainly wouldn't follow them on social media or whatever, but that has more to do with my livid experience on social media than any real disdain for getting to know the writer. It's just not that important, though I can see why other folks might want something that could be framed as a personal connection. Maybe if I heard enough about how they were a total douchebag on social media, it would move the needle (JK Rowling?) but even that, not so much.
I'm putting the finishing touches on two different YA fantasy novels: one is about swashbuckling gunpowder naval officers in a matriarchal world, and the other is about how life under the Rule of the Good Guys after the ring gets thrown into the volcano grows ever more slowly fascist. I've even queried the first one a few times, and every time, the agent's FAQ is like "give us your social media presence", and I'm like I don't have one and don't want one. I'm using a pseudonym that's even dumber than Outgrown Hobnail, I suppose I could set up an Instagram/Bluesky account and post something banal yet inspiring every day, but JFC why? Who cares, is my question, but publishers evidently do, probably because they have no marketing staff anymore.
rough ashlar, who on earth are you talking about in your extended example?
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 10:44 AM on November 24 [5 favorites]
I'm putting the finishing touches on two different YA fantasy novels: one is about swashbuckling gunpowder naval officers in a matriarchal world, and the other is about how life under the Rule of the Good Guys after the ring gets thrown into the volcano grows ever more slowly fascist. I've even queried the first one a few times, and every time, the agent's FAQ is like "give us your social media presence", and I'm like I don't have one and don't want one. I'm using a pseudonym that's even dumber than Outgrown Hobnail, I suppose I could set up an Instagram/Bluesky account and post something banal yet inspiring every day, but JFC why? Who cares, is my question, but publishers evidently do, probably because they have no marketing staff anymore.
rough ashlar, who on earth are you talking about in your extended example?
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 10:44 AM on November 24 [5 favorites]
It was once possible for pulp authors to make a living at it maybe in the 60's 70's, but the accounts are grim; Lawrence Block talks about frantically writing a short story in a few days, which pays him a flat $300, which is enough to pay the rent that month...that kind of thing.
posted by The otter lady at 11:21 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]
posted by The otter lady at 11:21 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]
but they won't do it until she has a huge social media follower count.
Is this a myth or actually the case?
She said literally their only problem with her book proposal was that she didn't have enough of an online following for them. I assume the logic is along the lines of "we don't want to put our own money/effort into marketing, that's YOUR problem."
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:44 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]
Is this a myth or actually the case?
She said literally their only problem with her book proposal was that she didn't have enough of an online following for them. I assume the logic is along the lines of "we don't want to put our own money/effort into marketing, that's YOUR problem."
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:44 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]
I actually wonder if this relentless publicity craze is why less books are getting written.
posted by corb at 12:57 PM on November 24 [1 favorite]
posted by corb at 12:57 PM on November 24 [1 favorite]
FEWER books. < /stannis>
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 1:04 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 1:04 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]
[...]I can think of only one genuinely "reclusive" author (or as reclusive as you can be today) I've met who is by any metric very successful.I mean, by definition, you're not going to be meeting the actually reclusive authors all that often?
posted by kickingtheground at 1:39 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]
rough ashlar, who on earth are you talking about in your extended example?
https://www.reddit.com/r/BlockedAndReported/comments/1b4vd3u/patrick_tomlinson_is_suing_the_milwaukee_police/
Maybe this character?
posted by Sebmojo at 1:48 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]
https://www.reddit.com/r/BlockedAndReported/comments/1b4vd3u/patrick_tomlinson_is_suing_the_milwaukee_police/
Maybe this character?
posted by Sebmojo at 1:48 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]
rough ashlar: what in the absolute fuck.
As a reclusive type, I think the author who has really got it figured out is Chuck Tingle. He’s got a second self to be famous in, but it’s not insincere.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:26 PM on November 24 [3 favorites]
As a reclusive type, I think the author who has really got it figured out is Chuck Tingle. He’s got a second self to be famous in, but it’s not insincere.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:26 PM on November 24 [3 favorites]
[reads all about Patrick Tomlinson, skims the first few chapters of one of his books]
Well, that was a ride. Maybe not the kind of self-marketing I'd be doing. Book chapters were... basically competent, not "good", not my cup of tea.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 2:32 PM on November 24 [1 favorite]
Well, that was a ride. Maybe not the kind of self-marketing I'd be doing. Book chapters were... basically competent, not "good", not my cup of tea.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 2:32 PM on November 24 [1 favorite]
Maybe this character?
Yes. 100%.
rough ashlar: what in the absolute fuck.
It gets more WTF. The guy who the ex-wife left him for and married is mentioned in the podcast This actually is happening. Interestingly the website seems to not have the episode but Apple still has it. Why mention this? Because my interpretation of what he said is the guy never actually met the ex-wife before and after meeting him one time she bailed on Patrick.
If that interpretation is true that is a genuine WTF. I'm not sure why one would admit to the 1st time meeting leads to the wife leaving shortly after but I'm not marketing myself to sell my books.
Well, that was a ride.
The ride goes on - the Pretend podcast had 3 episodes where Tomlinson tells his story and then later the 4th was from the people who keep bothering him. After the 4th episode the Pretend guy became another "enemy".
Not the way to positively market oneself. So if you ever wonder how you are doing on social media odds are good you ain't doing as poorly as Tomlinson.
No one is a hero in the vortex of BS but some are less sucky than others.
posted by rough ashlar at 6:10 PM on November 24 [1 favorite]
Yes. 100%.
rough ashlar: what in the absolute fuck.
It gets more WTF. The guy who the ex-wife left him for and married is mentioned in the podcast This actually is happening. Interestingly the website seems to not have the episode but Apple still has it. Why mention this? Because my interpretation of what he said is the guy never actually met the ex-wife before and after meeting him one time she bailed on Patrick.
If that interpretation is true that is a genuine WTF. I'm not sure why one would admit to the 1st time meeting leads to the wife leaving shortly after but I'm not marketing myself to sell my books.
Well, that was a ride.
The ride goes on - the Pretend podcast had 3 episodes where Tomlinson tells his story and then later the 4th was from the people who keep bothering him. After the 4th episode the Pretend guy became another "enemy".
Not the way to positively market oneself. So if you ever wonder how you are doing on social media odds are good you ain't doing as poorly as Tomlinson.
No one is a hero in the vortex of BS but some are less sucky than others.
posted by rough ashlar at 6:10 PM on November 24 [1 favorite]
protecting a vital source of Pynchon’s power.
Starting at the end
ok, so...I get the being famous author and keep it that way is a power anonymity wise, publishing world equivalent to a ring of invisibility you can use 12 hours a day but when it comes to power does the reclusive novelist Thomas Pynthon have rocket ships or a seat on Congress. () The power to influence.... this is why I read the companion to gravity's rainbow first. Joan and Eve.
"Eve Babitz, goddaughter of Igor Stravinsky, nude of Marcel Duchamp, consort of Jim Morrison (among many, many others), a woman who burned so hot she finally almost burned herself alive. Didion and Babitz formed a complicated alliance, a friendship that went bad, amity turning to enmity."
discerning the private life of Joan Didion to the work.
I've always thought of an idea to do a comparative narrative of Didion and F. Scott Fitzgerald while Fitzgeralds main themes were money Hollywood success, tacking up entropy, (etc) it was an eloquence in the narrative, it's as if there's a parallel to what Joan did describing southern California toward what Fitzgerald was doing in the opposite to himself. But there's a timbre.
"on nights like that, Raymond Chandler once wrote about the Santa Ana every booze party ends in a fight. meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husband's neck. anything can happen that was the kind of wind it was I don't know then that there was any basis for the fact that it had an all of us, but it turns out to be another of those cases in which science bears out both wisdom.... the oral history of Los Angeles is written in piano bars. Moon River piano player always plays.... no, no the writer says, I just happen to think billionaires have some sort of lacking in there..... elasticity"
in a letter from my uncle from his high school friend, a screenwriter, he wrote that Joan told him that "Hollywood was a city of slow no".
to me, Didion will always be 7 ft tall.
posted by clavdivs at 7:20 PM on November 24 [4 favorites]
Starting at the end
ok, so...I get the being famous author and keep it that way is a power anonymity wise, publishing world equivalent to a ring of invisibility you can use 12 hours a day but when it comes to power does the reclusive novelist Thomas Pynthon have rocket ships or a seat on Congress. () The power to influence.... this is why I read the companion to gravity's rainbow first. Joan and Eve.
"Eve Babitz, goddaughter of Igor Stravinsky, nude of Marcel Duchamp, consort of Jim Morrison (among many, many others), a woman who burned so hot she finally almost burned herself alive. Didion and Babitz formed a complicated alliance, a friendship that went bad, amity turning to enmity."
discerning the private life of Joan Didion to the work.
I've always thought of an idea to do a comparative narrative of Didion and F. Scott Fitzgerald while Fitzgeralds main themes were money Hollywood success, tacking up entropy, (etc) it was an eloquence in the narrative, it's as if there's a parallel to what Joan did describing southern California toward what Fitzgerald was doing in the opposite to himself. But there's a timbre.
"on nights like that, Raymond Chandler once wrote about the Santa Ana every booze party ends in a fight. meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husband's neck. anything can happen that was the kind of wind it was I don't know then that there was any basis for the fact that it had an all of us, but it turns out to be another of those cases in which science bears out both wisdom.... the oral history of Los Angeles is written in piano bars. Moon River piano player always plays.... no, no the writer says, I just happen to think billionaires have some sort of lacking in there..... elasticity"
in a letter from my uncle from his high school friend, a screenwriter, he wrote that Joan told him that "Hollywood was a city of slow no".
to me, Didion will always be 7 ft tall.
posted by clavdivs at 7:20 PM on November 24 [4 favorites]
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posted by HearHere at 1:49 AM on November 24 [2 favorites]