Personally, I thought Xeni Sucks was a jejune and solipsistic effort to gain attention. When somebody forwarded me the link, I clicked on it, yawned and then left. Little did I realize that it was “a blog written by a man who virulently hates a female tech journalist, and writes in detail *several* times a day including his violent fantasies about her, and her family (who he names).” It would help if Violent Blue offered specific examples to support her thesis here. Because skimming through the Xeni Sucks site, I can find nothing on it that reflects her findings. Yes, there is a good deal of juvenile (if obsessive) banter which attempts to mock Xeni’s posts at Boing Boing. Yes, the proprietor of Xeni Sucks should probably get a life.

For anyone who believes in women’s rights, I can see why anyone paying attention to the news would be angry. I certainly am. But while I agree that the gender chasm between tech journalists definitely needs to be rectified in some way, does this mean that a journalist’s work shouldn’t be criticized? Even in a childish way?

Looking at the Xeni Sucks site, I see nothing which corroborates Violet Blue’s findings. I see nothing in the cited New York Times article that suggests that badmouthing women is a good thing. And if Violet’s post were broached by a copy editor, it might be construed as unfounded libel.

And there’s still the flimsy reasoning. To offer a corollary, by Violet’s standards, the many posts here calling into question Caitlin Flanagan’s smarts might suggest that Return of the Reluctant is “a blog written by a man who virulently hates a female journalist, and writes in detail *several* times a week.” Does this make me a sexist? Or a women hater? (If so, I marvel at the irony of my Caitlin Flanagan-themed posts, all of them inveighing against sexism, being construed as sexist.) I live in San Francisco. Should I be next in line to get my ass kicked?

(via Metafilter)

Mr. Orthofer is well ahead of us. It looks like Jonathan Franzen has a new book, but it’s not a novel. It’s a memoir. Even worse, the book’s called The Discomfort Zone. We suppose that J-Franz should be extolled for truth in advertising. But we wonder if Franzen is venturing down the same unfortunate road as DFW. Like DFW, Franzen, after a major absence from writing (five years for Franzen, ten for DFW), has failed to write a novel after a well received title. After all, if David Mitchell has the cojones to follow up Cloud Atlas and offer a major departure in form, shouldn’t DFW or J-Franz have similar brass balls to follow up their highly regarded novels? Or perhaps the British have more courage and the American writers are just plain chicken.

…the Rake shoots (and drinks) straight, sans notes, with Charles D’Ambrosio.