Ayelet Waldman Throws Twitter Fit
Over New York Times Most Notable Snub
Bestselling author Ayelet Waldman
treated Twitter to a public snit after her most recent novel, Love and
Treasure, was not included in The New York Times' influential Most Notable
Books list for 2014. Waldman, incensed at the exclusion of her book, tweeted at
length about her disappointment and anger about the book not being deemed
worthy of inclusion:
I am really not dealing well with
having failed to make the @nytimes
notable book list. Love & Treasure is a fucking great novel IISSM.
— Ayelet Waldman (@ayeletw) December 2, 2014
It's just so fucking demoralizing.
You pour your heart into your work, you get awesome reviews, and then someone
decides it's not "notable."
— Ayelet Waldman (@ayeletw) December 2, 2014
Waldman pointed out that her book
had received a more favorable review in The New York Times than other (unnamed)
books included in the list of notables, and went on to openly wonder why she
should bother publishing a novel instead of simply keeping a journal, given
such a lack of recognition.
Though Waldman eventually tweeted
that there were "real problems in the world" and that she planned to
"do something good for someone else" instead of complain, her
following tweets entreated followers to pre-order her book's upcoming paperback
edition. She pledged to make a donation -- of $1 -- for each pre-order. Waldman
tweeted that her donation would go to "scholarmatch.com," presumably
referring to ScholarMatch.org, a
college scholarship assistance nonprofit founded by Dave Eggers.
Many in the literary community
responded with some measure of derision or measured criticism to Waldman's
rant. Some suggested these disappointments are typically best expressed in
private, while others gleefully riffed on the perceived self-absorption and
entitlement in her tweets:
Ayelet Waldman incensed
that all #tbt photographs aren't of her book. "No
back has been thrown even CLOSE to the quality of mine."
Waldman did not retreat in the face
of mockery, tweeting that her rant was "honest" and that her pledge
to donate was only positive:
What do (some of) you do?
Spend your lives on twitter being snarky and cruel? When's the last time you
did something for someone else?
You know the difference
between me and you? I express the hurt, and then channel it into something
useful, like scholarship donations.
Anyone expecting embarrassment or
regret from Waldman would have to be unfamiliar with her history of stoking
public controversy. Waldman, who is married to acclaimed author Michael Chabon,
sparked a national firestorm with a 2005 Modern Love column in The New York
Times in which she claimed she
loved her husband more than their children. She did not back down
after the ensuing backlash, and 10 years later she reiterated
that she had no regrets about the essay.
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1 comment:
Ayelet Waldman is a fucking bad joke.
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