Author Sherman Alexie Wants to Punch You in the Face

[Alisa]

I just went searching for Sherman Alexie ebooks to see if they were widely pirated and he has five books in Kindle editions. Oops.

[darkmonk]

Wow, I have an incredible urge to hit him!

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by Alisa

I just went searching for Sherman Alexie ebooks to see if they were widely pirated and he has five books in Kindle editions. Oops.

It appears they're all collections of poetry and short stories. Further, it appears they all center on the theme of 'me injun, you not, so you piece of crap and me must loathe you'.

Hasn't anyone pointed out to him that the only thing stopping him from being a 'success' is his own self-limitation?

Derek

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

It appears they're all collections of poetry and short stories. Further, it appears they all center on the theme of 'me injun, you not, so you piece of crap and me must loathe you'.

Hasn't anyone pointed out to him that the only thing stopping him from being a 'success' is his own self-limitation?

Derek

You haven't read any of his work, have you?

I have. He's brilliant.

[griffonwing]

I just recently watched Smokey & the Bandit again. The title of this forum is almost a quote from Sheriff Buford T. Justice.

"There's no way, no way that you came from my loins. Soon as I get home, first thing I'm gonna do is punch yo mamma in da mouth!"

[brecklundin]

I wonder how fast every one of his published works ends up on some Piratebay type place simply because some out there will feel they are punishing him for the comments.

I read it and I got that he was joking, yet, at the same time I felt inside that is this is the state of the industry then no wonder it is like watching a monkey try and reproduce with a football (the pointy Stewie-Griffin's-head-shaped American kind not the round dull Euro kind).

[kamm]

.....

[kamm]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

You haven't read any of his work, have you?

I have. He's brilliant.

Khm. Apparently he isn't.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by kamm

Khm. Apparently he isn't.

Again, have you read his work?

[kamm]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Again, have you read his work?

Sure I did - first he cracked a really bad joke about punching a woman in the face then came back with a complete BS non-apology essentially saying it's our problem if we understood his words as bad ones... then it turned out he's a bald faced liar because he did release ebooks already - then, once again, he turned around and claimed it was an "experiment"...

...did I get any part wrong?

If not then he's truly pathetic, IMO but at least very far from being brilliant...

Hint: let's not forget he's a PUBLIC figure in this story and a wordsmith supposed to know the meaning of his words...

[301verbs]

Hrm:

On his original blog post, he wrote that after telling the hitting "joke" at the conference, he then went gave a long explanation of what his objections were to the kindle. He also said that the author of the nytimes article reduced his concerns to one word ("elitist") and that he didn't feel that was a fair representation.

Of course, since he didn't post his actual objections on the blog it's hard to tell whether any of his objections are valid or not. But regardless this seems to be a case where a journalist took his words out of context and at least somewhat twisted them.

He's since posted this update:

In the aftermath of my recent public comments about my fear and loathing of Kindle and its kind, I have received a few dozen amazing, passionate, and compelling emails about the power and beauty of electronic books (and many more hilarious ones questioning my sanity, my morality, my anger management ability, and my writing skills). I have been especially humbled by those Kindle readers who, because of various physical issues, can only read with the machines. While I still have serious qualms about the technology, I have been challenged and emotionally moved enough to take a long-requested meeting with the folks at Amazon and Kindle and listen to their arguments for the machines. I'm on Amazon's list of most-requested authors whose fiction is not available electronically, so now, thanks to the beautiful emails I received, I will do my best to enter the meeting with an open mind. And I definitely promise that I will not beat up anybody at Amazon or Kindle.

[301verbs]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I disagree. Remember, we are offering opinions here.

His writing, I feel, should be judged by his writing and not by his polarizing words. (For example, Norman Mailer was recognized as somewhat of an ass - but he's also recognized as an important [albeit "flawed"] writer.)

On Alexie:
One might not like the man, his politics, his religion, his BO, his halitosis, his clothes, the way he wears his hair, or his "hee-haw" laugh, (and continue to add to the list to one's satisfaction), but it's the writing that will ultimately stand or fall.

Don

Heck yes.

I liked some of his stories more than others, but he's definitely got skills as a writer. "He said 'elitist' so he must be a fool" is about as deserved as his view of ereaders seems to be

[ReD]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

You haven't read any of his work, have you?

I have. He's brilliant.

I agree, he is brilliant. This makes it that much more disappointing that someone like Alexie would pass judgement in such a distasteful way and without even understanding that it's his audience that is reading ebooks!

[Xiaopanda]

Just as a TOTAL aside...... I know authors have some say (sometimes) about what medium they are published in, but isn't it often the Publisher who decides if it's going to be an Ebook, Paperback, hardcover etc...?

Or am I just being even more niave than usual?

[Gideon]

Alisa - absolutely. But it's also "new tech" which means a higher price point. In a decade things like the Kindle will probably be ubiquitous.

Such things might be 'elite' in terms of having money to spend on such things at all (or cable, etc) but I think there's "reasonable" and then there is owning, say... a Hummer.

But, I'm also a white guy who while growing up lower class, my family (through lots and lots of hardwork and difficulties) became upper middle class. I'm not a minority. And while TONS of people around here (Oklahoma) are native americans, we don't have "reservations" and the issues that exist in lots of places don't exist as badly here (poverty is more a universal issue). So... I limit myself somewhat in dealing with these things.

Still... I save money on my Kindle and I'm a lower class student! I'd never get to read anything I want if I had to depend on buying it at full price or libraries!