Author Sherman Alexie Wants to Punch You in the Face

[Robertb]

Allowing for the stupidity of Alexie in his choice of words. Astak sees his comments as just another voice of a dying breed that somehow hates electronic readers.

Let us all remember that we are a small part of the American public. Whether you love Kindle, Sony, BeBook, Astak, or the Swampwagon Clear-Mess 300... we all have to realize that this goes back to a few who came to our booth at CES and asked the absolutely duffous question: "WHY would I want to spend $300 for an electronic reading device when I can buy a paperback for $9.99?".

Remember the environment!! Remember that Kindle, Astak, Sony, and COOL-er all have one mission in common... educating the public to where they know the answer to the duffous question!

Paper waste is highly toxic... lethal!! Newspapers and books and magazines are clogging up the landfill. Energy use to print one paperback is thousands of times more than to create one eBook of the same title. And it kills trees to make paper. As Chief Seattle once said: "Continue to contaminate your own bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste!" To Alexie I say: "IT's The ENVIRONMENT, Stupid". THAT is what eBook Readers are all about!!

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Let us all remember that we are a small part of the American public. Whether you love Kindle, Sony, BeBook, Astak, or the Swampwagon Clear-Mess 300... we all have to realize that this goes back to a few who came to our booth at CES and asked the absolutely duffous question: "WHY would I want to spend $300 for an electronic reading device when I can buy a paperback for $9.99?".

Remember the environment!! Remember that Kindle, Astak, Sony, and COOL-er all have one mission in common... educating the public to where they know the answer to the duffous question!

Paper waste is highly toxic... lethal!! Newspapers and books and magazines are clogging up the landfill. Energy use to print one paperback is thousands of times more than to create one eBook of the same title. And it kills trees to make paper. As Chief Seattle once said: "Continue to contaminate your own bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste!" To Alexie I say: "IT's The ENVIRONMENT, Stupid". THAT is what eBook Readers are all about!!

You can preach "environment" till the cows come home. People will close their ears and their eyes will glaze over.

However, tell them you can put hundreds of books on the reader, that you can choose to read whichever one you want, anywhere you want, anytime you want.

Tell them that the device automatically "keeps your page" for you when it closes.

Tell them, (with the Kindle) you can download a book from Amazon, or MobileRead, or Feedbooks.com, instantly........with just a push of the button. Again, anytime, anywhere.

Tell them about the built in dictionary.

Tell them about the ergonomics. No more cramped hands, from trying to hold a paper book open.

Tell them about the adjustable font. No more squinting to see small text.

THATS what ebook readers are about, also.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

You can preach "environment" till the cows come home. People will close their ears and their eyes will glaze over.

However, tell them you can put hundreds of books on the reader, that you can choose to read whichever one you want, anywhere you want, anytime you want.

Tell them that the device automatically "keeps your page" for you when it closes.

Tell them, (with the Kindle) you can download a book from Amazon, or MobileRead, or Feedbooks.com, instantly........with just a push of the button. Again, anytime, anywhere.

Tell them about the built in dictionary.

Tell them about the ergonomics. No more cramped hands, from trying to hold a paper book open.

Tell them about the adjustable font. No more squinting to see small text.

THATS what ebook readers are about, also.

Tell them about reading in bed (no shifting the book around to get the light)

Tell them about finishing one book, and being able to start another, no matter where you are.

Tell them about MobileRead.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

Tell them about reading in bed (no shifting the book around to get the light)

Tell them about finishing one book, and being able to start another, no matter where you are.

Tell them about MobileRead.

Exactly!

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by weatherman

From an article in the NY Times today;

"At a panel of authors speaking mainly to independent booksellers, Sherman Alexie, the National Book Award-winning author of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” said he refused to allow his novels to be made available in digital form. He called the expensive reading devices “elitist” and declared that when he saw a woman sitting on the plane with a Kindle on his flight to New York, “I wanted to hit her.”"

It might be we are missing Alexie's point. I was on Amazon yesterday researching a topic and was dismayed at the number of useful titles that were available only for the Kindle--there was no pBook version either, just the Kindle. I checked several other eBook sellers and none of them had those titles. If the Kindle ends up suppressing publication, either through it's proprietary DRM or through Amazon's reach--their clout with publishers--then I think I might agree that Alexie has a good point. After all, his audience was "independent booksellers."

Not how I would have expressed it myself although it did get someone's attention.

[Donnageddon]

Well, 6charlong, you paint a grim future, and if it were to play out that Amazon succeeded in getting completely exclusive rights to books, only with their proprietary DRm which could only be read on a Kindle... that would be a complete nightmare worthy of a lot of dissension.

But I don't see that happening, and we are no where near that now. If Alexie's comments are meant to foster rejection of ereaders because of that concern, then it is complete nonsense.

But as others have stated, it has gained him a bit of notoriety. But mostly with ebook readers, and his notoriety is not likely to translate into book sales from these readers.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I just want to say that whoever coined this thread title deserves a medal!

[Jovvi]

I live in Sweden, and I have heard of him (well I´m a librarian and his book"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" have just come out in swedish, and I agree, it is a good book. I am amazed at how upset you all seem to be over his comment. So the guy don´t get ebooks, alot of people do not. I consider that their loss...

Also I still think that when it comes to the gain or loss for the ebook business it still comes down to publishers, they are the ones we must win over, the authors will follow.

Clara

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

You can preach "environment" till the cows come home. People will close their ears and their eyes will glaze over.

However, tell them you can put hundreds of books on the reader, that you can choose to read whichever one you want, anywhere you want, anytime you want.

Tell them that the device automatically "keeps your page" for you when it closes.

Tell them, (with the Kindle) you can download a book from Amazon, or MobileRead, or Feedbooks.com, instantly........with just a push of the button. Again, anytime, anywhere.

Tell them about the built in dictionary.

Tell them about the ergonomics. No more cramped hands, from trying to hold a paper book open.

Tell them about the adjustable font. No more squinting to see small text.

THATS what ebook readers are about, also.

It's what she said, Robertb (which is the first time I think I've agreed with her since the cows wandered into the road right in front of that speeding semi and made a horrific mess on the interstate).

Certainly, the environment is important, but I don't think many people buy ebook Readers because they're concerned with the environment. This is a "gut" feeling, and I don't have any statistics.

I would also argue that the computer age has probably "killed" more trees than the previous age.

These are my opinions and anyone may certainly differ with them. (Except for the cow, of course.)


Don

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Jovvi

I live in Sweden, and I have heard of him (well I´m a librarian and his book"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" have just come out in swedish, and I agree, it is a good book. I am amazed at how upset you all seem to be over his comment. So the guy don´t get ebooks, alot of people do not. I consider that their loss...

Also I still think that when it comes to the gain or loss for the ebook business it still comes down to publishers, they are the ones we must win over, the authors will follow.

Clara

I agree with you. I think he's an important literary writer who has something important to say about the human condition.

Some of the negative comments here are from posters who are reacting to his words rather than to his creative writing. In my opinion, they are conflating two different things. However, they are entitled to their opinons. I'm going to sit back now and read the new ones coming in; as, like Sherman Alexie, I'm really quite amused.

Don

[carld]

Originally Posted by Jovvi

I am amazed at how upset you all seem to be over his comment. So the guy don´t get ebooks, alot of people do not. I consider that their loss...

For me it's solely his comment about hitting someone because he doesn't like the way they are reading. Even as a joke it's crass and offensive. He made it even worse by saying that he should have said "man" in his so-called joke instead "woman." As if violence against men is somehow okay.

[jruschme]

Originally Posted by carld

For me it's solely his comment about hitting someone because he doesn't like the way they are reading.

It scares me to think of what he'd do to someone who was reading a "strip" of one of his books.

[LauraLynn]

I sent an email to his publisher. I explained that now that I have an eReader (which is not a Kindle, but the less expensive EBW1150) that I am reading more books than ever before - and I loved to read before my eReader!

I also let them know that previously, ALL of my reading material came either from the library, or was purchased USED from Amazon, eBay, Goodwill.... Now I actually pay $ to an ebook store which means both the publisher and author are making money from my reading choices. Neither the publisher nor the author benefited in any way when I purchased used books.

[Jovvi]

Well I agree that wanting to hit someone because of what they are on is stupid, but I really don´t think that he really wanted to hit someone, just saying that he don´t like ebooks, or the devices they are read on.

I still don´t get why you get so upset, I say things all the time that are´t meant to take literary.

Instead of writing angry letter to a publisher of an athor you have not read, nor have any interest in reading ignore him or even better send him (mr alexie) a letter explaining that yes a reader is a expensive device bu so is cellphones, iPods, netbooks etc.

I think the guy is also one of those people that have very fond, sentimental memories of books and librarys and whant others to be able to experience that. I know a lot of those people and they are not bad. Sometimes they seem to think that it has to be either or, but I read both ebooks and other books too.

Clara

[thibaulthalpern]

Originally Posted by Jovvi

I am amazed at how upset you all seem to be over his comment.

Ditto.

My basic premise for my original post. I'm flabbergasted at how upset people are over this. I'm laughing too