Search This Blog

Friday, December 5, 2014

Watching one's language



The other day I was on a bus when a drunk homeless man boarded, then refused to pay.  Indeed, when requested for his fare, he yelled, instead.  His shouting was composed mainly of the "F" word. The driver, who had drawn away from the curb, lurched to a stop, and an argument commenced, again mostly composed of the "F" word.  After they had slung a few dozen "F*** you" phrases at each other, the drunk finally left the bus, and last seen was shambling off down the street shouting "F*** you" at the bus as it went.

"Nice man," commented one of the passengers.  While silently agreeing, I also meditated about the limited vocabularies of bus drivers and homeless drunks.  Which is something one does not expect of writers.  While the "F" word might be used, it is used with care, for impact and mood.  Like all the other words, it is chosen carefully.

Which makes a foul-mouthed tirade from a disappointed writer all the more surprising.  But, it seems, it happens, as reviewgawker.com points out.

An author I have absolutely never heard of before, with the unlikely name of Ayelet Waldman, was so annoyed at not making the NYT notable books list that she vented with foul-mouthed tweets.

As the reviewgawker commentary begins, "Literarily famous emotion-haver and interior decorator Ayelet Waldman got mad this week at the news that the novel she'd published this year, Love & Treasure, had failed to make the New York Times Book Review's list of 100 notable books of 2014.
Ayelet Waldman Has No Idea How Non-Notable It Is to Write a Novel
Ayelet Waldman Has No Idea How Non-Notable It Is to Write a Novel


OK, so. Obviously this is very jarring to an author, to see a big long list of books—MANY books—on which one's own book has not been included.
Amused?  If you want to find out more about how she embarrassed herself, hit the link to read the rest.



No comments: