Picoult Versus the NYT White Male Bias

The whole thing is so idiotic and pretentious it makes me want to... not care at all.

Yawn.

I find it ironic that the critic who tears apart Jodi Picoult's work is female.

Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot
Fighting in the captain's tower
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers.

-- Bob Dylan

I had to seriously LOL when someone pointed out 2 NYT reviews of books by authors of color, and then Picoult changed the subject and accused Michiko of using hard words because "reviewers just like to sound smart". Next she should point out that the NYT reviewers are also big doo-doo heads.

The current NYT book page seems to have a ton of female writers and at least one male writer of color (Suzanne Collins, Cordelia Fine, Melanie Thernstrom, Calvin Ramsey, Nina Garcia, Eliza Griswold, Gale Caldwell, Kim Kupperman, Caroline Blackwood). I'm not sure what Picoult is getting at.

One Anonymous commenter asked:

So, could someone please figure out how many books are put out there by non-white males or women in general? Maybe that has something to do with it.

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I can tell you about a feminist gathering where the two editors of a teeny tiny two-woman feminist book publishing company were berated and accused of racism because none of their titles were by women of color. You should have seen these poor editors on the verge of tears saying they'd LOVE to publish books by women of color, but they just weren't getting submissions. The attackers in the audience then accused them of failing to do adequate outreach.

Lotta politics in this, folks.

Oh wah wah wah, Picoult. Maybe you should write books that don't rely on monumental clusterfuck deus ex machina kneejerk emotionally manipulative endings then. Oh, and while we're at it?

"True," Picoult tweeted back. "But did you know what 'lapidary' meant when you read it in Kakutani's review? I think reviewers just like to look smart."

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I think some authors just like to patronise.

Here's one woman who knew what 'lapidary' meant before she read your precious little comment.

In fact the MC of my work-in-progress is one.

What's she upset about? Lack of sales?

Reviewers just like to look smart? Obviously Picoult doesn't. She comes off sounding like an idiot.

I love Picoult's books, but I am disappointed that she pulled a racism card and made such a stink. Not everything is about prejudice or racism.

Well, there is an issue with the NYT and genre fiction, but she specifically wrote "white male", which doesn't have a lot to do with the NYT's anticommercial bias.

*snore*

Isn't Picoult a white literary darling herself?

Or, in her next book, have the kid she offs (cause there will surely be one) be named "Newyorktimes McBrooklynwhitejewishmale". Just a thought.

Phaeal said:

Basically the NYT reviewers choose books they think will make them look cool, in the complex sense they give that word. Sometimes it makes them look cooler to praise said books; sometimes it makes them look cooler to pan them. Picoult should write a novel exploring this phenomenon, and, of course, a sick kid.

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Horseshit.

Double no way. I'm holding out for rocking horse shit.

Phaeal said:

Basically the NYT reviewers choose books they think will make them look cool, in the complex sense they give that word. Sometimes it makes them look cooler to praise said books; sometimes it makes them look cooler to pan them. Picoult should write a novel exploring this phenomenon, and, of course, a sick kid.

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Now that's funny. Completely wrong in every possible way, but funny.

SusanL said:

I love Picoult's books, but I am disappointed that she pulled a racism card and made such a stink. Not everything is about prejudice or racism.

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I love Picoult as well, and this disappoints me.

BUT, I'm able to seperate the author from the stories she tells.

Why does it seem that anyone who makes it big is automatically hated by the majority of people on here? James Patterson, Dan Brown, Stephanie Meyer...I don't particularly like their style of writing at all, but I admire them for making it big.

I think Picoult is a lovely writer, and I like her stories.

Of course, this is about the NYT article and White Male Bias which is strange to me. Why would Picoult need to put anyone down? Not that anyone should, but she's a best seller. One book's been made into a movie with more to come, I'm sure. What's her problem? Why should she care on iota about a supposed bias, even if the bias is real? She's got her dozens of books and millions. She's good, I think. That frustrates me.

Have any of you read the Huffington post interviewing Picoult and Weiner on this? This issue is slightly more complicated than some of you are making out and quite frankly I think they put forth some interesting ideas, namely the age old: why is a genre that is clearly a "woman"'s genre, ie chick lit or romance, considered automatically lower than "male" genres - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-pinter/jodi-picoult-jennifer-weiner-franzen_b_693143.html

ETA: she cares about the bias, Alpha, because it affects women's genres in general, not just her work. Read the interview, it's quite enlightening and the first time I've actually understood what this whole debate is about.

Toothpaste said:

Have any of you read the Huffington post interviewing Picoult and Weiner on this? This issue is slightly more complicated than some of you are making out and quite frankly I think they put forth some interesting ideas, namely the age old: why is a genre that is clearly a "woman"'s genre, ie chick lit or romance, considered automatically lower than "male" genres - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-pinter/jodi-picoult-jennifer-weiner-franzen_b_693143.html

ETA: she cares about the bias, Alpha, because it affects women's genres in general, not just her work. Read the interview, it's quite enlightening and the first time I've actually understood what this whole debate is about.

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I second the recommendation to read the Huffington Post article. It's a complex issue, and I think Picoult and Weiner raise some excellent points.