April 11, 2006

Just Another J.T.

Well, this guy ain't too impressed by with my my Gawker interview:

First off, what, precisely, are the Cather In The Rye generation(s)? Seems to me like another arbitrary nickname of an era(s) used to bolster one's own argument. And anyone who brags about the amount of debauchery that appears in their work has almost certainly spent more time authenticating disgusting/bizarre sex acts than actually writing their story. The tone of the interview with the author is - like most interviews with authors - nauseatingly self-impressed. There's such a close identification with Salinger's work, it makes you wonder how much originality this guy has. Maybe the book is pretty good - there has been a lot of good (albeit relatively anonymous ) buzz about it - but then, JT Leroy had her work read and championed by Lou Reed, and it turned out to be fabricated bullshit.

UPDATE: Sadly, this guy has now corrected his original typo, so the post no longer alludes to "Cather in the Rye," effectively short-circuiting all of our Willa Cather jokes. (He doesn't think too much of Willa, either, as it turns out.)

Nevertheless Cather in the Rye is still an excellent band name. Or a good stage name: Catherine the Rye.

Posted by Dr. Frank at April 11, 2006 10:30 PM | TrackBack
Comments

With the kind of lucid fame that comes from being a superstar author, you're sure to find these kinds of haters.

I for one am going to start marketing Dr. Frank voodoo dolls, but rather than pins you stick in sharp corners of the most obscure literate known to man. Because, as you know COOL books have no hype, no advertisiment and the authors hate themselves and their work.

Yeah...

Posted by: Anarchie at April 11, 2006 11:05 PM

Ha! I like "Cather In The Rye" - sounds like Willa Cather on another one of her rye whiskey benders. Crazy drunk Willa Cather.

Posted by: Jennifer aka Literaticat at April 11, 2006 11:44 PM

You know, Jennifer, Cather in the Rye is not a bad band name...

Posted by: Dr. Frank at April 11, 2006 11:48 PM

if only willa cather got into the rye, then my antonia would have been good.

Posted by: kendra at April 12, 2006 12:15 AM

Haha, where did you learn your french? I Wanna Ramone You is the funniest / coolest song I've ever heard!

Posted by: Sean at April 12, 2006 12:32 AM

I can't describe how irate I am that you, or someone, invented the phrase C.I.T.R.G. in order to bolster your argument. After all, King Dork - far from being a young adult novel - is nothing if not a lengthy polemic which puts forth an argument of some kind for something or other. And you tried to BOLSTER it with a bogus phrase! For shame.

Posted by: xmath at April 12, 2006 12:53 AM

this guy never met Mrs Frankel.

Posted by: Mark at April 12, 2006 01:35 AM

haha, holy shit. sorry about that, frank. the "citrg" thing was my phrasing and i really don't know what i meant by it. was just trying to make a short blurb and got lazy. my lightbulb burned out a long time ago.

Posted by: krucoff at April 12, 2006 02:18 AM

this guy says "maybe the book is pretty good" and "maybe it's fabricated bullshit" like those are mutually exclusive descriptions! whatever dude. i can't wait to read your fabricated bullshit, which i know will be much more than pretty good.

Posted by: alix at April 12, 2006 05:47 AM

I'll bet it's almost entirely fabricated.

Gawker and Stereogum = Everywhere somebody goes? Andrew Krucoff is famous? Dr. Frank, I think you may have just oversaturated the world's smallest market niche.

Posted by: josh at April 12, 2006 01:08 PM

Obviously this guy hasn't even attempted to read the book. I too expected it to be like "Catcher..." but even only being on chapter three, I can tell that it's not. Don't listen to the hacks that just want to bring you down.

As a side note, Tom reminds me 90% to a tee a guy that I went to school with. His name was Jason, he was a tremendous dork, wore the camo jacket and read all the "Guns N' Ammo", "Soldier of Fortune" zines and such. He also wrote lit papers about Lee Harvey Oswald and othe assassins. I thought he was just weird, but now I found out he was trying to deter daily beatings, getting crammed in a locker and swirlied in the bathroom. Ha!

Posted by: Zaphod at April 12, 2006 01:30 PM

Yo Frankie,

Is there a preferred place to (online) purchase your book from? By that I mean, would it be better for you or your publisher to purchase it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble? I dunno if you'd get more $$ from one, or if for reordering purposes or if they would consider other things if it sold more. I really don't know much about that kinda shit and would like to help out however. Thanks

Posted by: My Name at April 12, 2006 01:59 PM

Hey My,

Whatever is most convenient for you. Every single sale is a help, no matter where it comes from. But I suppose a case could be made that buying it from Lookout Records counts double, since that will be helping out them, too, and the more in business they stay, the more likely it is that my records will be available.

How's that?

Posted by: Dr. Frank at April 13, 2006 01:18 AM