tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post1028225125391999789..comments2023-08-19T06:19:28.990-04:00Comments on the nytpicker: NYT #1 Bestselling Author Jodi Picoult Blasts NYT For Giving Rave Book Reviews To "White Male Literary Darlings."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-25414234522961292702010-09-07T23:17:02.229-04:002010-09-07T23:17:02.229-04:00Jodi Picoult got her facts wrong about Jane Austen...Jodi Picoult got her facts wrong about Jane Austen, as Lev Raphael has just blogged on The Huffington Post:<br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lev-raphael/was-jane-austen-a-popular_b_705583.htmlUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03356166701126107568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-75402844856540771332010-09-07T08:04:25.254-04:002010-09-07T08:04:25.254-04:00How funny. Literary fiction writers have been comp...How funny. Literary fiction writers have been complaining for years that the NYT has dropped literary fiction for commercial fiction.tori alexanderhttp://www.torialexander.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-61498521179365506232010-09-03T20:54:07.093-04:002010-09-03T20:54:07.093-04:00I knew what lapidary meant, do I win a prize?I knew what lapidary meant, do I win a prize?Rarian Rakistahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07386271335254334657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-18726057930652181382010-08-31T10:36:49.076-04:002010-08-31T10:36:49.076-04:00I am Black and my tribe survived the domestic holo...I am Black and my tribe survived the domestic holocaust here in America yet the the NYTBR never publishes my poetry...<br /><br />Thanks Jodi for your protests..Plane Ideas https://www.blogger.com/profile/13838821721942426785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-71326021166431847932010-08-28T02:55:35.697-04:002010-08-28T02:55:35.697-04:00What are we talking about anyway and what exactly ...What are we talking about anyway and what exactly is commercial fiction? Is it the category that is forced down the throat of school children (lest they become overqualified) and picked up by Costco?<br /><br />Can't figure out what adult readers actually see in such garbage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-38623253357303241352010-08-27T16:26:50.226-04:002010-08-27T16:26:50.226-04:00"In 2009, 66% of the mystery novels reviewed ..."In 2009, 66% of the mystery novels reviewed in the New York Times were written by men (the books, not the reviews). In 2008, that number was 61%...Based on submissions for the 2010 Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar awards, the overall split in mystery novels published by men and women in 2009 was nearly equal, with approximately 51% of published mystery novels written by men. (The split goes up to about 56% male authors if you count only original hardcovers.)"<br /><br />These are interesting numbers, but do you think the difference between 56% original hardcover males and 61%/66% reviews is a huge gap? <br /><br />The numbers don't seem ideal, but not nearly as dramatic as Picoult pretends.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-73785229533378428392010-08-26T20:44:11.895-04:002010-08-26T20:44:11.895-04:00Wonder if Michelle is the kind of parasite who sho...Wonder if Michelle is the kind of parasite who shows up to book readings to ask the stupidest question that masks a tangential threat that she thinks will have carryover in some angelic dimension. Well, well, well, time to turn the tables around.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-35152651271810333082010-08-26T20:42:10.937-04:002010-08-26T20:42:10.937-04:00"This doesn't mean that commercial fictio..."This doesn't mean that commercial fiction reviews should replace literary fiction reviews, but they should be given more face time or the new york times will see less and less readership."<br /><br />What is it? You are suffering? Can't quite speak in a language the masters can understand? It bothers you that your unverifiable profession is no longer paying the bills? Why don't you stop there and save face.<br /><br />The kind of losers who read commercial fiction don't read book reviews. So, no worries, the genre will stagnate until storage space becomes an issue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-11369717801450881722010-08-26T14:16:42.528-04:002010-08-26T14:16:42.528-04:00What difference does it make who is writing what a...What difference does it make who is writing what and who gets recognised for what? As a consumer public, why can't we just reap what we like and ignore what we don't?Sylviahttp://www.officialpartydirectory.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-42991213328211784762010-08-26T13:12:03.007-04:002010-08-26T13:12:03.007-04:00Jodi should look at the "Best Books" of ...Jodi should look at the "Best Books" of the last two years and then please be quiet. She's making money hand-over-fist with writing that pales in quality to what she has written in the past.<br /><br />The 10 authors who were given "Best Book" by the NYTimes the last two years are: Steven Millhauser, Toni Morrison, Joseph O'Neill, Roberto Bolano, Jhumpa Lahiri, Maile Meloy, Jonathan Lethem, Lorrie Moore, Jeannette Walls, and Kate Walbert. That's 6 women (4 white, 1 african-american, 1 indian-american), 3 white guys, and 1 latino author. Lorrie Moore and Jeannette Walls were both double-reviewed.<br /><br />The fact that she mentions Junot Diaz and Edwidge Danticat's 2007 books makes her seem so out of touch. Maybe she hasn't read many books since 2007, so she can't think of non-white-male writers that have gotten lots of love from the NYTimes, like those listed above and others, like Colson Whitehead, Allegra Goodman, Nam Le, Jennifer Egan, etc etc.<br /><br />If she wants more critical acclaim, then she should write better fiction that rivals her contemporaries. Can you really compare fiction of the caliber of Toni Morrison's or Lorrie Moore's to Jodi Picoult's?<br /><br />And for the commenter who wanted to know where was the love for British fiction, please take a look at the love given to David Mitchell this summer from the times, as well as their double-header E.M. Forster/Somerset Maugham biographies cover story. And both of those only in the last 6 weeks or so!Jon from Brooklynnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-34863822475526221712010-08-26T12:45:00.118-04:002010-08-26T12:45:00.118-04:00I feel like there's one person here who keeps ...I feel like there's one person here who keeps responding under anonymous. That must be why there are lots of anonymous posts that are completely unreadable and full of pretentious phrases that are out of context with what we're talking about. <br /><br />More importantly though, I think that NYTPicker should go back and read their own article and the points where they disagreed with Picoult..where they might end up noticing that they fail to come up with examples of the NYTimes reviewing a novel written by a woman and have only two examples of nonwhite authors being reviewed...both of whom are male and both of which were reviewed three years ago. If that's the best you can come up with then you've just proven Picoult's point. <br />This doesn't mean that commercial fiction reviews should replace literary fiction reviews, but they should be given more face time or the new york times will see less and less readership.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04635954965184366836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-89567066737605308022010-08-23T17:19:34.371-04:002010-08-23T17:19:34.371-04:00If picard and her ilk were to organize and mobiliz...If picard and her ilk were to organize and mobilize, they could possibly launch a negative publicity campaign, a mass action lawsuit, consciousness raising and attitude readjustment campaigns to proactively reverse the systemic exclusion of the female. <br /><br />Otherwise, the nuisance is about why your particular bad literature didn't get picked up for a tearing in the crab bucket.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-83715463499915514622010-08-23T10:17:12.294-04:002010-08-23T10:17:12.294-04:00Did anyone bother to tell Ms. Picoult that the cri...Did anyone bother to tell Ms. Picoult that the critic who wrote the Franzen review is an Asian-American woman who trashed Franzen's memoior and Lethem's latest novel?Ed Bastnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-85270905892534869442010-08-23T08:07:03.994-04:002010-08-23T08:07:03.994-04:00Maybe the problem is that too many of the books th...Maybe the problem is that too many of the books that Piccoult would like to read are chick lit books that are only of interest to women who want to take a break from their own emoting by diving into someone else's pool of emotion. It's not like the NYTimes is reviewing white male stories like this Onion classic:<br /><br />http://www.theonion.com/articles/empowered-man-murders-controlling-wife-in-lifetime,2699/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-5027714155802761912010-08-23T06:54:02.814-04:002010-08-23T06:54:02.814-04:00Oh, poor Ms. Picoult. Doesn't she realize that...Oh, poor Ms. Picoult. Doesn't she realize that whining for affirmative action doesn't do the female authors any favors. One friend of mine dismisses any vaguely politically correct news from the NYT automatically because he assumes it's just wishful thinking from a bunch of dreamy fools who think they can just change the world by getting the NYT to write some story about how a woman was starting her own business or writing a book or acting out all of the wishfulfillment fantasies from the novels and movies like "First Wives Club" or "9 to 5". <br /><br />Now whenever I see some book review written by some female professor at some sensitive liberal arts college about a book written by some other sensitive professor from a sensitive liberal arts college, I'll just assume that the book was reviewed to shut up the whiners and make some 50% quota. It may actually be quite good but I'll dismiss it out of hand because Picoult will be just looking at the author's name and trying to guess whether "chris" is a boy or a girl.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-68479145836084321722010-08-22T15:12:25.780-04:002010-08-22T15:12:25.780-04:00Frankly, I completely agree with Picoult's rem...Frankly, I completely agree with Picoult's remarks. The NYT Book Review consistently goes after the same type of book and author.<br /><br />As someone who works in the industry, is a white male, lives in New York, and has an MFA-equilavent degree, I still think the NYT should evolve.<br /><br />They won't, because the book industry suffers from the same delusions as Hollywood - rich, old white folk at top who think that's all people want to see.<br /><br />Unless, of course, you fulfill the ethnic stereotype of whatever caste you're from. Then you're acceptable, because your story is only about what makes you different from the majority.<br /><br />Of course, at the end, you discover you're really just like majority! Yay!<br /><br />More thoughts on my blog.Drewhttp://www.pfspublishing.com/workshop/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-62359752924978450952010-08-21T17:02:09.363-04:002010-08-21T17:02:09.363-04:00The miscorrespondence between supply and demand
...The miscorrespondence between supply and demand <br />is worth adressing to remain relevant and redressing to stay alive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-61489315800091874132010-08-21T16:33:21.628-04:002010-08-21T16:33:21.628-04:00The key to success is to keep an infinite distance...The key to success is to keep an infinite distance from the illuminated.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-26922929086727176022010-08-21T16:28:10.020-04:002010-08-21T16:28:10.020-04:00Personally, I rarely read fiction. And when I do, ...Personally, I rarely read fiction. And when I do, it is a classic, or a master piece. Never empty commercial airport fare. <br /><br />But I do read other stuff.<br /><br />And that reading list, has its own parasitic observers, who I've been observing for some time. They're not necessarily writers, they're the kind who idealize sit on the ass to be fed grapes life for themselves only.<br /><br />They go bonanza into a frenzy every time they illegally intrude to see what's being read.<br /><br />I'd like to eliminate them. Having tallied up their comings and goings, I might add that the world would be a better place if the leaches were directly told that the leaching is over. Get over it. Not worth the penalty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-26224555631106094212010-08-21T14:19:47.033-04:002010-08-21T14:19:47.033-04:00For Picoult to accuse the NYT of this is like Jon ...For Picoult to accuse the NYT of this is like Jon Stewart feeling the need to publicly embarrass Jim Cramer on "The Daily Show"— somewhat accurate but so filled with hubris and the accusers self-exceptionalizing opinion that I don't care.<br /><br />Picoult isn't a good writer— she writes potato chip novels— so what does her opinion matter anyway?<br /><br />though there are many Franzen non-fans, there aren't many of the informed who would say he is terribly untalented at writing. I think most would agree that Picoult is in no way the literary/writing equivelant of Franzen, and that her singling out of him is especially myopic of her. Ethnic/international/feminist/queer lit is horribly underrepresented in bookstores and in publishing houses— which just makes it clear that she doesn't know much about these places, only about what she reads in the New York Times.XYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02857167845157201386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-18909188357124509242010-08-21T11:09:59.895-04:002010-08-21T11:09:59.895-04:00The whole Junot Diaz phenomenon baffles me. He is ...The whole Junot Diaz phenomenon baffles me. He is promoted as an ethnic, Dominican author. I love Caribbean fiction and so I tried to read his book for some local color and cross-cultural insights. Big mistake. All I got was a headache from the commercialistic, materialistic New York ghetto narrative. Its like it was written to be easily turned into a screenplay with tons of product placement already installed. Having lived three years in the Dominican republic, I can affirm that Diaz says NOTHING about Dominican life and culture as experienced in their native country. He's all about the immigrant experience, which is basically the same myth and meme, whether you're Jewish, Italian, Russian, Mexican. I think this explains the Times loving his work. Its safe, a feel-good success story. It doesnt address the violence, corruption, sensuality, religious and economic paradixes of the REAL Dominican Republic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-68385130771482157642010-08-20T15:37:33.406-04:002010-08-20T15:37:33.406-04:00Au contraire.
Nothing like depicting racist and ...Au contraire. <br /><br />Nothing like depicting racist and sexist characters, in overt fiction, to turn us off from them. To see them as human beings, to understand how they got that way. Blah blah... Why aren't there intelligent women characters in fiction? I know many many such women in reality, why are they not represented in fiction? In cinema? On the tube? Is it, perhaps, because they might awaken the bubble nation? Upset the dicks? They're not fuckable enough if they speak? <br /><br />You tell us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-41005767032080665242010-08-20T13:56:22.958-04:002010-08-20T13:56:22.958-04:00So that's why the Times doesn't review my ...So that's why the Times doesn't review my books! I thought it was just because they're published by an independent publisher, not the big 5 NYC publishers. Thank God for other review outlets!Sheilah Vancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13111872618851838448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-78384452559220768892010-08-20T12:54:37.439-04:002010-08-20T12:54:37.439-04:00What's the value in posting anonymous' rac...What's the value in posting anonymous' racist and sexist comments. They add nothing intellectual to the discussion. Really, don't give racism a voice.Sarah Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17780959351098643176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007635024151290238.post-79518964328760471382010-08-20T09:54:55.344-04:002010-08-20T09:54:55.344-04:00I may be uniquely positioned to help quantify this...I may be uniquely positioned to help quantify this discussion, at least in part. Sisters in Crime, a group dedicated to furthering the careers of women writing crime fiction, has been monitoring reviews of mystery novels (broadly defined to include thrillers and traditional mysteries) in national media for more than 20 years. As chair of the monitoring project, I can offer a few facts to consider:<br /><br />In 2009, 66% of the mystery novels reviewed in the New York Times were written by men (the books, not the reviews). In 2008, that number was 61%.<br /><br />With half of 2010’s numbers recorded so far, the New York Times has reviewed a total of 64 mystery novels, 72% of which were written by men.<br /><br />Across the 46 publications monitored in 2009, male writers earned 67% of reviews, up from 63% in 2008. Only three publications reviewed more books by women than by men (down from six in 2008).<br /><br />Based on submissions for the 2010 Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar awards, the overall split in mystery novels published by men and women in 2009 was nearly equal, with approximately 51% of published mystery novels written by men. (The split goes up to about 56% male authors if you count only original hardcovers.)<br /><br />These numbers refer only to books in the mystery and thriller genre, arguably commercial fiction by definition, and can therefore contribute only so much to the conversation. As review pages shrink and publishers consolidate assets behind big-ticket authors, one can’t help wonder if the diminishing resources will be equitably distributed among worthy writers regardless of sex. The Sisters in Crime monitoring project is one of the few ways to quantify and track that distribution.<br /><br />--Julianne Balmainjulianne balmainhttp://www.juliannebalmain.comnoreply@blogger.com