Monday, November 24, 2014

Covering the Daniel Handler Fiasco

The problem with Daniel Handler’s “watermelon” remarks at the National Book Foundation black-tie awards ceremony in Manhattan last week is larger than one individual. They say a lot about the system of establishment literature. I’ve tried to examine the larger picture, first here at the NEW POP LIT blog:

http://newpoplitinteractive.wordpress.com/2014/11/21/latest-big-literary-scandal/

Then at my ’”Literary Circus” blog:

http://literarycircus.blogspot.com/2014/11/why-is-daniel-handler-celebrating.html

Am I a biased observer? Absolutely! Daniel Handler spent years harassing a writers group I used to lead, the Underground Literary Alliance. He did so because our mission was to expose corruption within the clubby halls of establishment literature.

Unfortunately, anything I say here or elsewhere is overwhelmed by hordes of go-along-to-get-along writers retweeting articles which portray Handler in a more positive light. (He’s a man of immense wealth and power.)

The most unfortunate of these articles may be this “Shelf Life” post by self-proclaimed “social justice ally” Carolyn L. Todd, an Entertainment Weekly intern.

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2014/11/24/on-the-books-daniel-handler-donating-110k-to-we-need-diverse-books-campaign/ 

How far, Carolyn, do your principles go in the real world?

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