Category Archives: feuds

July 30, 2013   John   controversy, feuds, fun, John  
2

Literary meltdowns

This past Sunday night, I went to a concert and witnessed something I hadn’t seen in a long time—a genuine, on-stage, rock-star meltdown by Brian Fallon, the lead singer of The Gaslight Anthem. You can read all the particulars here, but suffice it to say, it was genuinely weird, uncomfortable, irritating… and yet perversely memorable.

Anyway, back at my desk here in Book Land, I started thinking about comparable literary meltdowns. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an author completely lose it on stage—maybe not since college, when I saw Noam Chomsky go bananas when too many students asked him about the Middle East. But of course, the history of the written word is littered with tantrums, explosions, and even a gunshot or two. (That’ll teach you to mess with Hunter S. Thompson!)

So, let’s have some fun—when was the last time YOU saw an author really lose it? Or, if you’ve never seen one in person, what’s your favorite meltdown story? And after witnessing/reading about said meltdown, did it enhance the author or diminish in your eyes?

August 21, 2012   Brenna   art, Brenna, buzz, celebrity, children's books, crafts, creativity, debate, feuds  
3

Books as Art

The outrage surrounding MTV reality starlet and YA author Lauren Conrad’s destroying some of Lemony Snicket’s books on her DIY craft show to make them into storage containers has reignited the debate over books being used as non-reading materials. Rebecca Joines Schinsky of Book Riot posted about this and makes some really great points worth considering if you find yourself appalled by Conrad’s actions. For one, Schinsky notes that people love books for the stories, not the medium in which they’re delivered—most evident nowadays in the success of digital publishing. On top of that, she quotes Rachel Fershleiser—author, former bookseller and publicist, who has the publishing experience and no-nonsense attitude required to set the record straight—that books that don’t sell are often recycled. So, why shouldn’t creative people use them as they see fit?

Now, there are a couple of things that certainly don’t help Conrad’s case. The books she destroyed were Lemony Snicket’s. Lemony Snicket, people. The girl writes YA and doesn’t appreciate a modern classic children’s author? And storage containers? Really? Not the most original or useful endeavor. If, however, you don’t see the problem with that, check out The Repurposed Library by Lisa Occhipinti or Playing with Books by Jason Thompson for some truly great ideas.

And if you’re as fascinated by a celebrity feud as I am, take a look at Lemony Snicket’s amusing response here.

July 06, 2011   Miriam   authors, competition, feuds, fun, Miriam, our clients  
10

Jealousy is all the fun you think they had*

Personally, I think jealousy is a great motivator.  Who hasn’t experienced a moment of jealous rage so virulent that it’s propelled them  to action?  Whether it’s romantic or professional, this base and vile emotion can force you to get off your keester and make things happen.  Okay, sometimes, it lands you in jail—not so good.  But, when we are jealous of someone’s accomplishments and able to see the effort and talent behind them, we can parse the elements of their success and try to apply them to our own circumstances.  Also, there have been some epic feuds born of jealousy that make for great entertainment—Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer; Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck….

The kind of jealousy we encounter on an almost daily basis is creative and professional.  Why is so and so getting bigger advances than me?  Why did she get a better review from the Times when everyone knows she’s a hack?  Why did [fill in the publisher’s name] give him an eight-city tour when they can’t even get my books in stores?  And so on.

Our response, in soothing, zen-like tones is something along the lines of “Be patient, grasshopper.  Unimaginable success will be yours.”

Uh…yes…well…more often it’s “Stop whining and stay focused on your own work.  No one can write your book better than you and being jealous of other people’s success is just distracting you from doing your best work, not to mention meeting your deadlines.”

So, this piece in Writer’s Relief made me think about the uses and misuses of jealousy and wonder whether it is, indeed, a motivator?  Can you keep it in check and make it work for you? Or is it just a corrosive, soul destroying thing you wish you could banish from your creative life?  Who are you most jealous of?

*Erica Jong

UPDATE:  I love the link Tamara posted in the comments so much, that I thought I’d share it with you here:

http://therumpus.net/2011/03/dear-sugar-the-rumpus-advice-column-69-we-are-all-savages-inside/

April 25, 2011   Jim   advice, feuds, Jim, marketing/publicity  
9

Don’t be a moron.

These are dangerous times to be a writer. The internet makes spreading information waaaaay too easy sometimes. Not when you want to, of course. Try to make your book trailer go viral, and you start to feel like Sisyphus. But say something mean about someone, and you can step back and watch the wildfire grow.

I know for a fact that authors love to witness the public meltdowns of other authors (I have the emails to prove it!). And I totally understand. There’s something really comforting about being able to stand back and look at someone’s breakdown over bad reviews, losing an award, not getting enough money, etc., and just think, “Thank God it isn’t me.” It’s not pure schadenfreude. I suspect that each of us possesses the ability to turn into a shrieking harpy on the internet, so each time we see someone else do it instead, there’s a degree of real comfort.

One piece of advice I share (too often) is simple: Don’t be an asshole. It’s advice I need to remind myself of sometimes when someone gets mean and all I can think is, “I can take care of this with a delicate combination of cutting wit and pure rage.” It’s just a bad idea. You always end up looking worse.

The easiest way to prevent yourself from looking like a tool on the interwebs is just to have someone trustworthy who you can run responses by. Someone who will be able to respond to your saying, “Really, I just think I have some perfectly rational explanations for why this reviewer is a toad, and I’d like to share them,” by telling you, “Shut up, or you’ll look like a moron.” I’m happy to report that there are several people in DGLM’s employ who are happy to tell me when I’m being an idiot. All. Too. Happy. Everyone needs one of these people that they can trust. A yes-man is lovely, but an honest opinion is vastly more useful.

The point is: publishing is a teeny tiny world and connections matter. People will forget that you got a bad review on your debut novel. They are much more likely to remember that you threw a hissy fit and threatened to TP the reviewer’s home.

March 15, 2011   Stephanie   debate, e-books, feuds, opinion, reading, Stephanie  
11

The library debate

Today I wanted to bring up the new debate currently raging between publishers and libraries. As you may or may not know, HarperCollins recently enacted new restrictions on e-books purchased by libraries, only allowing each book to be checked out twenty-six times before expiring.  This has essentially upended library lending policies, whereby e-books were previously lent out an unlimited number of times. In the publisher’s defense, HarperCollins is attempting to update a policy first created long before e-books gained a foothold in the market, as well as avoid losing an important part of their revenue that comes with replacing old or worn physical books. But on the opposite side, libraries now face apportioning more of their already slim budgets for replacing the e-books after they expire.

The issue has stirred up resistance from librarians across the country, and for now, the debate shows little sign of dying down. I’d love to hear your take on this dispute.  Does your local library offer e-book lending? Have you ever borrowed an e-book from your local library? Do you agree with HarperCollins’s new policy? Let me know!

June 03, 2010   DG&B   favorites, feuds, fun, Jessica, lists, opinion  
10

Authors behaving badly

by Jessica

Abandon all high-mindedness all ye who enter here.

This week the Daily Beast has a gallery of literary feuds, which is as appalling as it is entertaining. How did I miss that Richard Ford spat on Colson Whitehead at a 2004 Poets & Writers event in retaliation for a bad review? That the always pugnacious Norman Mailer head-butted Gore Vidal in the green room of the Dick Cavett show may not be too surprising, but whenever events allow us to spy that (sometimes significant) gulf between an artist and his or her creation, I cannot help but marvel: how is it that the same people who possess such extraordinary insight into human behavior can acquit themselves so poorly? On one hand, given that most of these featured feuds took place before digital media existed to fan the flames, I suppose it’s reassuring to see that people were petty and peevish even before they had recourse to blogs or tweets.

Interestingly, there are those who complain that the current literary landscape has become too genteel and booster-ish, that punches are pulled for fear of censure. (Dale Peck, apparently, missed this memo. So too Paul Berman). In a 2006 article in the NYT Book Review, columnist Rachel Donadio wrote about the literary feud as an endangered species “To some, the paucity of feuds is connected to the larger state of literary culture. ‘It’s not because we no longer have feuds,’ said Fran Lebowitz, the writer. ‘It’s because we no longer have literature.’ ”  This strikes me as somewhat dire—I’m not convinced that there is clear and direct relationship between literary merit and public sniping. What do you think?

Have you any favorite literary feuds?