- An interview with the evil robot doll in Squid Game, the absolutely nuts Korean show everyone’s suddenly talking about. (Vulture)
- Here’s a rather crazy thing that lit up social media this week. (The Cut)
- And here’s the trailer for Tick, Tick…Boom!, which tells the story of Rent creator Jonathan Larson, who died days before his play was set to premiere.
- All about the underground bunker beneath the Eiffel Tower. (Messy Nessy Chic)
- This amused me. (Kottke)
- As did this. (Vogue)
- And so did this: the perfect cocktails for your perimenopause party. (McSweeney’s)
- And have you listened to this week’s episode of Everything is Fine yet? We’ve got authors Jo Piazza and Christine Pride on, and we’re talking about their new book, We Are Not Like Them, which examines a lifelong interracial friendship that is shaken by a police shooting. Also, now is an excellent time to become an EIF Patreon subscriber—we’ve got a ton of fun content coming your way. (Apple Podcasts)
- Check out this truly disgustingly beautiful mold art. (Kottke)
- And finally, this piece—about the nightmarish conditions at Riker’s Island—is pretty shocking. (Curbed)
About a week after reading “Bad Art Friends” I followed a link in the NYTimes about an upcoming movie based on a New Yorker short story, “Cat Person,” that went viral in 2017. I thought the story was pretty amazing, only to find that a very similar situation unfolded in 2021 with someone coming forward to say the author had plagiarized her real life story, including a similar instance of using her actual words in the story. In my brief career as a high school English teacher, I continually spoke about plagiarism (as it was rampant in my classes–copying from each other and in one case, a word for word lifting of a back of the book blurb). Such a sad state of affairs. These writers are obviously talented, but lazy because it shouldn’t have been that hard to make the needed edits. To paraphrase John Lennon, how do they sleep..?
There’s another writer in my family who’s got a development deal w/ Lifetime and also has a podcast. I’ve seen some instances in her work where she’s telling the stories of others–quite of few are mine. I only write non-fiction, so my writer friends don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, “good writers steal,” but it bothers me. We’re estranged, so I don’t expect we’ll ever have a conversation about it. Anyway, remembering the brouhaha about Cat Person surfaced those feelings.
A friend of mine sent me the Bad Art Friend article earlier this week. I consider it a must read. Another great list of links! Have a great weekend, everyone!
I would love to know what different people here think about the kidney essay. We are what we are, and my wiring for good and as often for bad, is to overlook and treat neediness with benign indifference, which is only possible with true distance. For me, that distance precludes initiating a defamation suit, repeatedly accessing posts to lightly reword them and then mock them with friends, and oscillating between writing “my dear” to and then totally ignoring the person I find needy. We won’t even get into the straight-up lying detailed by Kolker and, later, Gawker. And I’m no saint. Ask anyone!
I guess mileage varies (but here I’m lying. I know it varies, and it irks the shit out of me.) The most brutal and eye-opening take I read was from a freelancer with bylines in every notable publication who grimly outlined the MFA/writer’s group/social complex, where you’re often left with a fake degree in terms of utility, and even faker friends.
CC, I enjoyed your comment enough to flip over my library ladder-chair to its ladder function to pull down my copy of poet Chuck Miller’s book, Northern Fields. Chuck Miller’s quote for the back: “The thing I don’t want on the back of my book is a bunch of crap about my degrees, or who I studied with, or my M.F.A. from the University of Iowa blah-blah-blah, like you see on the back of so many books, particularly since I ended up absolute enemies with the Writer’s Workshop; it would be ironic, galling, and disgusting to be identified as some product or protege of theirs. Any other kind of description you come up with will be OK.”
My take was that the kidney donor clearly had some issues/needed validation, but that the other woman clearly plagiarized her by quoting her letter verbatim and then passing it off as her own in the short story. I don’t think vampirizing another’s experience is plagiarism, maybe it’s distasteful, but this went beyond that. Having said that I thought they both came off terrible.
Laughed my ass of at the McSweeney menopause cocktail list.
CC, I’m so glad you asked! But I only read the Cut piece – I didn’t go for the emails (yet). As an aside, I do not feel dirty for reading about this sad story – one needs to keep abreast of the exact stage of moral degeneracy of the country.) In addition to all the regular reactions – such as “ugh, these people…”, I also think it is kind of wrong to publish people’s private ventings. … … … Now, although I am no expert, we should all be aware that ideas of “privacy” evolved long before women were allowed to be lawyers. So, I regard current law as being only partially legitimate, though fully in effect (whatever it *is!* – not an expert here). Which is to say, I think one has a moral right to b**** to one’s friends. Venting is a human need and my guess is, overall it may support better actual behavior than if it did not exist. … … … … I also have a reaction to “needy.” Everyone’s needy. But we only get *called* that if we are exposing our vulnerability to people whom we thought we could trust, but whom we actually can’t trust. And I agree with CC – there is some obligation to somehow, you know, clear one’s throat. You don’t get to sit there and f*cking eavesdrop. … … … …. Also btw, this kind of thing does not make one an “artist” in my book. But then I generally stick to non-fiction these days. Or I read light stuff. I’ve never understood why people need to go to writing school either, unless it is to make connections? … … … … I am aware that some, or many, or most – it’s not up to me – Black Americans retain some level of anger over how their ancestors were treated. This seems to me to be pretty much unavoidable, especially as so many actual crimes went unpunished. It is not though an excuse to commit more unethical acts, I think. Interestingly enough, I’m not sure where the public is on this now. There are a lot of lines getting moved around. Still, I think most people are generally good and want to behave well, even despite all the ugly history. … … … Whereas plagiarism is probably a legal matter. So that at least most of us probably agree on.
Okay, now I am going to go read the emails, bc I think I assumed the other person was Black, but maybe is Asian or some other ethnicity. Now though I am starting to feel icky!!! Reading other people’s emails. Uh oh. What am I turning into????
Oh yeah, and the other thing is, I already felt bad for lady Cruz. She is a civilian.
Oh wow. I guess I hope I don’t know any writers??? What an interesting mess. I wonder what will happen.
I thought the NYT article was fascinating. Do I think Dawn seemed a little needy? Sure. But the Mean Girl thing made me wince – how incredibly juvenile and hurtful. And I guess I think for someone with a trauma background, finding out that everyone *is* actually laughing at you behind your back is heartbreaking.
I’m honestly not sure how I feel about the legal case, but I think Sonya did a pretty awful thing in spirit. My friend is a writer and she will often say “Oh, I’m going to steal that!” when we talk and I always feel a little proud because I know the spirit behind it is not to mock or humiliate me.
Hi Kim! Hoping you are planning another “party in a top” post soon—now that we are starting to go out for dinners again, I find myself wanting to wear jeans but needing something more exciting than my pandemic sweatshirts to go with!
Lol’ed over the “Straight Outta Compton” polka!
This is my SO’s biggest nightmare, pretty much. He loves NWA and hip hop and he absolutely hates polka (he’s a general music lover, but thinks polka is the very bottom of the barrel). So I texted this to him right away!
When I was high school age, there was a german “fast-casual” restaurant at one of the nearby malls. Inside, all the music was oompah oompah pah versions of current songs. My favorite was “Like a Virgin.”
Sounds very Midwestern!