Ethical Transparency
Written byPosted on June 27, 2007
Filed Under Uncategorized
An author who I will not name sent me his book, along with a cash amount intended as a donation to this site. I’m happy to accept donations for anyone who considers this site to be of value to them. And I’m sure that this author meant well. But because this donation came with a book, I do not feel that it would be ethical for me to accept the cash. It implies that I must take a look at his book without a honest and scrupulous eye. Therefore, I will be returning the cash by mail to this author.
At an event, I was asked by a publicist to take a photo. “I’ll pay you for it,” said this publicist. Sure this would have been helpful to me, particularly since I am currently scraping by here in Brooklyn from one gig to another. But I demurred. Because to accept cash from a publicist would imply that my perspective can be irreversibly colored by the Almighty Dollar. At BookExpo, another publicist told me that he could send me audio clips of authors to me and that, together, “we might be able to construct an interview.” I am not in the business of “constructing” interviews or designing questions for preprogrammed answers. That is not journalism. That is corruption. And it is not fair to all parties.
I do not care if I am forced to live on a diet of Top Ramen or if I must pay my rent by sifting through the coins in my piggy bank. I would sooner pump gas or work retail somewhere than allow myself to be corrupted like this. Let it stand for the record that my opinion cannot be purchased. If a media outlet deems me fit enough to write an opinion piece, then this is fine. I am happy to be hired. I also see no problem with advertising, provided that the advertising is clearly separated from the content. I also do not see any problems with donations, likewise separated from any implied quid pro quo. But I would not be able to live with myself if I knew that what I was writing was tainted by money. Indeed, there would be absolutely no point to what I do.
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Books To Jump Up and Down Over
Beyond Heaving Bosoms by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan. The famed writers behind Smart Bitches, Trashy Books have written a very funny and thoughtful volume about romances, both Old Skool and New Skool. Here is a book that any smug and humorless literary manboy beating his flabby passive chest over Banville or Bolano should probably read pronto, if only for the distant possibility that he might get over himself. While the Choose Your Own Adventure segment at the end caused me to have a very disturbing dream involving Shelley Long (don't ask), Sarah and Candy did have me rethinking many of my own misperceptions when I wasn't busy laughing. They're not afraid to take on the New York Times Bok Review or even the groupthink within certain sectors of the romance community.
Alice Fantastic by Maggie Estep. This wild and highly enjoyable narrative involves two sisters (presumably, the third one was still being rented out by Chekhov), a hippie ex-junkie mother who lives with seventeen dogs, a murder, gambling, and libidinous Hollywood actresses who live in Woodstock. But this is the wonderful Maggie Estep we're talking here. And what seems at first like a quirky yarn becomes something unexpectedly moving about connectivity. What I love about Estep's work is the way that she'll juxtapose an extremely astute observation (now that you mention it, why do cab drivers always have somebody to talk with on the phone past midnight?) with an often outrageous story development.
Generosity by Richard Powers. It doesn't come out until September 29th, but Richard Powers's latest will have anyone committed to books reconsidering their literary fervor. I foresee some animosity from the vanilla critics hostile to idea-driven novels, but book bloggers, YouTube chroniclers, and MFAs would do well to plunge into this chance-taking narrative, which introduces vital questions about what the reader's relationship is with media, scientific dissection, and "creative nonfiction." Are we rats fleeing to happy cities? Or can we find the humanism within the purported plague?
Pieces for the Left Hand by J. Robert Lennon. Lennon is one of the most underrated fiction writers working today. Much as On the Night Plain proved that Lennon had a lot more in the toolbox than heartfelt (and often very funny) suburban satire, this slim but fascinating volume juxtaposes 100 small-town anecdotes -- arranged by category -- in a manner that reads, at times, like Nicholson Baker's passions for minutiae and, at other times, Stewart O'Nan's concern for psychological detail. The result is fiction that makes us wonder about whether one person's subjective view of particulars can entirely be trusted. This book never found a publisher in 2005. But thankfully, Graywolf has released it in the United States, along with Lennon's latest novel, The Castle.
Wonderful World by Javier Calvo. This wonderfully raucous volume has been completely ignored by the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. But it's probably one of the most delightful reading experiences I've had this year. Calvo cavalierly mashes up multiple genres and manages to mix up familial subtext with larger-than-life, almost cartoonish characters. (Indeed, one might argue that one mobster's penis is a character of its own in this sprawling novel.). This is not an easy thing to pull off, but Calvo makes it work. And it's helped immeasurably by Mara Faye Lethem's idiom-specific translation. (See longer post.)
The Means of Reproduction, Michelle Goldberg This thoughtful book tackles the complicated (and little discussed) subject of reproductive rights from numerous angles, which includes a number of unpleasant but necessary ones. The upshot is that there isn't a quick fix solution for declining birth rates and fundamentalist abuses. Just about every political faction has contributed to the friction. But you'll want to read this book anyway to refamiliarize yourself with the topic, but also to understand just what's occurred during the past several decades to get us where we are today. (See also podcast interview with Goldberg.)
Or send materials to:
315 Flatbush Avenue, #231
Brooklyn, NY 11217
- The Super Bowl: Madison Avenue Misogyny
- The Bat Segundo Show: Christian Berger
- Paul Fischer: The Unpardonable Hack Who Charmed His Fellow Junketeers
- February 15th! Reader of a Lonely Heart!
- Knock Three Times
- New Review: Gail Godwin’s Unfinished Desires
- Macmillan: The New Amazonfail
- The Bat Segundo Show: Sue Grafton
- JD Salinger Dead
- The Mountain
I am working on an essay that includes the words blood and fellatio and I had a fried spam sandwich for lunch.
Although I will not give you money or perform fellatio on you in return for a book review, I might give you some blood. Or the Spam sandwich.
If you care to view a photo of the Spam sandwich, go to my site. Underneath the photo, you will also find a post linking to the latest review of my book.
Thank you and carry on,
Erin E. O’Brien
Human
Genius
Wife
Mother
Writer
Owner of martini-shaped lamp.
Wow. That is just….amazing.
Ah.
So you can be bought for Ramen. Duly noted.
Every so often, I find myself at the very edge of telling an author or publisher, “You seem to be under the impression that I am a publicist, rather than a critic and essayist. And that means you can just fuck right off.”
In fact I only ever actually say the first part, albeit in a way that leaves the rest clearly implied. They don’t actually offer me bribes. But the attitude involved is, if anything, often more offensive than if they had.
One guy approached me about a book like so: “There was an article about it in The New York Times and another piece is scheduled for [some magazine or other]. Maybe you should do something, given all the hype.”
I thought, “Well gosh, dude, that is one appealing prospect all right. Why I must be crazy to pass up such an offer!”
You’re to be commended. Not everyone in your position would find it so easy to choose ethics over greenbacks, but thankfully you’re of the finest sort. Bravo to you, and in the end karma will reward you.
I haven’t yet been offered anything nearly that suspicious in exchange for my good opinion, but one big publisher has sent me Belgian chocolates TWICE, along with books for review. I’m not sure getting hopped up on cacao influenced me in my reviewing, but it sure as hell did turn my head. Rock on, Simon & Schuster!
Whoops, I said that out loud.
Publishers have sent me props with their books in hopes of piquing my interest, I guess — ie, a book on climate change comes with high efficiency light bulbs, one on Hawaii comes with a lei, etc. — but sadly no chocolate. I was once approached by a very large publisher who asked me to “partner” with them. Apparently partnering involved an arcane process by which they send me “free books” known as “review copies” and I reviewed them positively and displayed their ads on my site giving it “a look of legitimacy”. How could I turn it down? I’ve always wanted to be legitimate.
I hear you on the piggy bank situation. You are an ethical dude. Glad I found your blog; also good comments. Maybe you’ll weigh in on my google ad dilemma? My blog is meant to make you laugh (or cry, depending on your p.o.v.) http://www.literaryrejectionsondisplay. I think Bluestalking Reader will be happy to know I am naming names. Seriously.
Goddamn it, how long do I have to blog before I get chocolates? It’s not like I started pootering about books for my own peace of mind.
Just for the record, I can easily be bought for chocolates. I have no shame.