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I read a post by another writer who said that he would still read the work of an author he couldn’t stand. To me he was essentially saying he could separate the person from his work.
I gave that some thought.
Some years back I sat in a session at a writer’s conference given by a very famous writer. Very famous.
I couldn’t stand the guy. To be frank (pardon the pun) I found the guy a total dick. He also openly and with great relish dumped on other writers’ work. Named names. And the bulk of the audience was “in there” with him!
I was stunned.
And I was gonna buy one of his books. I didn’t.
To this day I can’t think about one good thing to say about this guy, that’s how off-putting he was to me.
I can’t support a writer (or any other person) if I can’t stand that person. If I find them abhorrent in whatever way bugs the shit out of me.
Why would I possibly want to support a livelihood if I don’t like the message?
I mean, I might possibly find an exception in the future and eat my words, but today I cannot think of a single exception to this rule: if I can’t stand you or your message I more than likely will not read your work. It’s hard for me to separate the two. I will wish you well and personal and spiritual growth (please have some spiritual growth…), but I will not be supporting your habit.
Now, I’m sure there are probably some authors I read who are jerks and I just don’t realize it. True. But if I do, I will most likely not continue to support them. There are just too many other books out there to read, and if this reasoning culls the herd for me, so be it. I wish you all (even the jerks) peace and growth in your journey through life…I just don’t want to be a part of it.
There’s one speaker who comes to conferences, is quite full of himself and stand-offish…. but he knows the business well and writes insightful books about writing. I manage to look past the messenger to get the message I need. But with writers I meet at conferences who are not nice people, I like you, have no interest in buying their books. Frankly I don’t care what they have to say and, like you, don’t have an interest in enriching their coffers. As it is I can’t really justify buying all the books from all the friends/acquaintances that I’d like to. Reading time is also too short to waste on someone who isn’t a kind person.
There you go. :-] BTW, hope your PPWC excursion went well! Thanks for the comment, Karen!
This is a tough one. There have been times when I’ve learned, after reading someone’s books or watching his movies, that he’s not a nice guy, or at least a bit off-putting in some way. And I’m kind of glad I didn’t know ahead of time, because there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have read or watched his work had I known — and I truly liked the work!
I’m conflicted about it. I have a relative who won’t watch anything with Tom Cruise because she can’t get past the Scientology stuff, and him jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch and the whole bit, and I’m like, yeah, but his movies are really good! But then I think about how I felt when I heard Harlan Ellison denigrate Rod Serling’s writing, and how it made me want to have nothing to do with the guy.
Like I said, it’s a tough one! Good post, though, Frank. Certainly provided some food for thought!
Hmmm, hadn’t heard about the Ellison and Serling thing. Don’t read much Ellision to begin with. Tom Cruise…his Scientology doesn’t really bug me and I do like his movies. :-] But you’re right…I might eat my words later in life, who knows! 😛