Letters to the Editor
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Making Things Personal
Anonymous says: "So judge Anne Lamott's writing. Hate it if you hate it. But ease up on her as a person."
I think that Lamott's writing itself makes it very difficult to separate critiques of the writer from critiques of the writing. After all, nearly all of the praise for Lamott on these letter pages conflates the writer with her writing, celebrating Lamott's (ostensible) personal honesty and bravery, directly addressing her as "Annie" and gushing about her as a treasured personal friend.
And Lamott's work invites that; her homey, confessional tone is the key to her financial success. And I think that tone is actually a large part of what her detractors find so annoying about her--it's like she's performing "bravery" and "honesty" as a style, but the actual content of her pieces evade any substantive self-criticism, because she's working so hard to get us to like her, to embrace her as "our Annie." A substantial number of Salon readers find this very, very cloying, and they have the right to broadcast their opinion on Anne's writing, Anne the writer, and Anne the character in the writing, since the three can't be easily separated.
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Ann Lamott refuses to go away, thank goodness!
I used to be down on Lamott, but I've come around. It was her unwavering support of a woman's right to choose that did it for me.
She's very straight about who she is and what she stands for. Forthright. All good words for her.
What I like best about her is that she never presumes to speak for anyone but herself.
I am interested the adventure of her life and would like to see columns by her in Salon again.
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it's not Anne Lamott that gets us riled (we never read her)
it's YOU!
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MH,
Really great points. When people who have never met her are referring to her as if she were a friend or companion, developing an intense emotional bond with her, and then turn around and don't understand why those of us who dislike her writing similarly link her own person with that output, there's an odd double-standard going on.
None of the praise is along the lines of "fine prose" or "well-organized thought" or any other aesthetic credentials. It's all about liking and loving her. So why the suprise that negative responses are similarly personal?
But, as I said before, these letters are hardly an example of great hate or unheard-of-for-the-letters-column vitriol.
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I'm out the door...
Anne Lamott has always been one of my favorite writers, and as soon as I'm finished posting, I'm out the door to get my hands on "Grace..."
But I'm disgusted that people who supposedly "hate" her feel that they need to take the time out to attack someone who has dedicated her life and craft to communicating from such a personal and often vulnerable place. Lamott seems to be humbly attempting to heal her little corner of the world, and then sharing her observations with the rest of us whenever she can. Ever heard, "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all?"
By the way, I was introduced to Salon when I found out that Lamott was a contributer, and for that I am truly grateful as well.
Now, I've gotta go get me a new book! YAY!
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Concerning the lack of civility here
and other places in the blogosphere, when social constraints are loosed (the left is famous for, if nothing else, discarding social constraint), people act like drunks. Loud, bellicose, and profane. The greater the lack of constraint, the greater the tendency to act like an animal, utterly disregarding the effect on others and themselves. The drunk cares only about himself. His opinion reigns supreme. Likewise the amoral, licentious hedonist.
Welcome to the world the 60's made. Anne Lamott started the fire, and now she running from it, afraid of and repulsed by her own creation. Anne, the fire is still burning.
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what a day
Let's all go out get drunk, slap our kid around, tell everyone about it then we can go and watch some lucky gal have an abortion to top it all off.
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This is above the fold?
An interview of an ex-Salon columnist by another Salon columnist is not news, it's meta-news. I don't come here for navel-gazing, I come here for investigative reporting on under-covered issues.
As a reader since the '90s and a charter subscriber, I'm really annoyed at what appears to be a conscious shift away from real reportage at Salon. My membership expires in a couple of weeks and for the first time in many years I'm considering abandoning it. I don't need another blog aggregator.
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Could we have some red stars please???
I don't have time to wade through 123 letters....c'mon editors, hup hup....where have you guys been for the last few days????
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yes Anonymous
Editor's Choice is the place for you.
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If you can't say something nice...
Why don’t we adopt an etiquette that nothing will be posted that the writer would not comfortably express at a cocktail party to other real people? What would be lost by some degree of restraint and moderation? It can’t be good for a person’s mental health to devote so much time to composing misogynistic diatribes.
I like Anne Lamott. "Operating Instructions" gave me lots of courage as a mother. I also get pedicures and color my graying hair. Does this mean I am not a serious person? Should I also stop exercising and trying to eat enough vegetables because in 30 years I’ll be an old woman? Good gracious.
I doubt Anne will ever come back to Salon. But I’m going to vote with my purse and buy several copies of “Grace,” for distribution among my friends.
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RE: has ben
I propose that Ben is not an Atheist at all, but an Anti-Theist. The disctinction is that he is bigoted against people who believe in a Higher Power. It's no different than being racist or homophobic. He can't just "live and let live" and accept that people think differently than he.
Being an Anti-Theist is very different from being a racist or a homophobe. If you are spiritual, or religious and you have such beliefs, you are CHOOSING to have those beliefs. Most religious or spiritual people come to their beliefs over time. If I don't agree with your spiritual beliefs, I have every right to question your choices and beliefs. I am not looking at you differently for who you are physically, but what your choices are in life. Very different.
Also, if you are somebody who truly believes in "live and let live" and accept that people think differently than you, than it shouldn't bother you that some people don't agree with your spiritual beliefs and choose to speak their mind about it.