Will there ever be a time when we all begin to think that these "she's childless and alone" jokes have been played out??! Can that time be right now? (and yes, I do get that they're sarcastic, but still...)
@JimJoeJack: You are a complete and utter idiot.
So, I'm assuming you wrote back, "Yes, I will post this, with photos and all."
???
@mercymercyme: No, I'm not being simplistic or reductive (or condescending for that matter). Of course all great writing doesn't sell well, or even get published. I know that.
I feel compelled to share this somewhat contradictory point of view not to be condescending, but more so as a rally cry to those among us who want to write but make excuses why we're not. I can't tell you how many years I wasted not writing--my entire 20s--because I too held onto the idea that one needs to have "something" in order to be a writer: connections, money, privilege, etc.
I now believe that the real connections that will get someone far, and the only ones that truly matter, are the ones you make for yourself because you're working at it.
@afiunderground: I don't want to sound like a know it all here, and inspire rage, but I just sold a book to a publisher based on a proposal I wrote, which came from an idea I had. I have no connections. I am not rich. I slept with nobody to sell the proposal. I found an agent who liked my work, which took a long time and a lot of patience.
I guess I just wanted to say that b/c THIS is honestly how it works. If you want to write and think you have to do something other than wake up and find time to write every day, well...you're wrong.
@afiunderground: What do you mean she was "given" a book deal? Again, this is what makes me so nutso about these discussions. People are not handed book deals, and I know for a fact, b/c I work in publishing, that she was not "given" it. She came up with an idea, she wrote a proposal. We all can do it. We don't need money or connections or whatever people think. All we need is a pen and some paper, a really good idea, and the ability to write.
We can all hate the book or the writing or whatever, but to think that EG is successful because she's lucky (as someone earlier said) or privileged is just naive.
@PaintedTrollop: Then do what she did: write a book that does well. Then write a book proposal for another one. Write that book. Hope it does well, in which case you will have money and connections.
oh god. Not another 1000 comments bashing Elizabeth Gilbert, please (she's selfish! i could do that too if i didn't have bills! yeah, if i got a book advance I could get paid to write about gelato too!). Haven't we done this enough?
How about, wow. Here's a woman who totally went after her dream, pulled herself out of a terrible depression, earned a lot of money through good writing (which is not easy)and will hopefully go on to more success.
No, I'm not her publicist. I'm just sick of how quick we can all be to jump on women writers who become really successful. (The list is long, if you'd care to discuss it.)
I feel like picking her up in one hand and thanking my mom, my agent and the Academy.
The Diary of Anne Frank
@Private Hangnail: I think your comment was so fucking funny.
A hippie pregnant mistress?
I'm not really understanding that description. What about her is "hippie"?
That just rubbed me the wrong way.
when are people going to get this right? Madonna is NOT in love with Alex Rodriguez. It's Alex Trebek!
The baby's name is Sunday in the U.S., but given the time difference in Australia, they call her Monday there.
My frog Ellie is shopping a new memoir, And The Heart Says...Ribbit.
Dear Editor,
I agree with another letter writer, Joyce Weiss, who says "I've never doubted that animals have more intelligence than some people."
Case in point: the other day I was trapped in a Lexus with two complete idiots who were going to the Hamptons and couldn't find the Triborough bridge.
Buttercup Rose
Upper East Side, NY
the reason most people who live on the Upper East Side can't identify the Triborough bridge on a map, is because most people on the Upper East Side don't have maps.
Such as.
Now, which one is Buttercup again?
This is the 1940s version of the hope we had in a black woman with a funny name.
@brendahamLincoln: : I try not to read either Perez Hilton or this feature b/c it depresses me too much BUT I saw that Rumer Willis thing he did -- he even fucking photoshopped her face to make her chin and nose smaller. Imagine someone doing that to you, especially if you're 19?
Seriously, isn't there something we could do? How many readers does Jez get? Can't we organize some sort of something to get the hate to stop (w/o also increasing his page views)?
The Chicago Jezzies should brainstorm this over shots tonight.
