martin amis - Gawker

posts about #martinamis more →
Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
Media Bitchery: The Definitive Bibliography
Unlikely Couplings

Your Sunday 'Times' Timesaver Guide
Martin Amis And Tina Brown, Literary Sex Therapists
Martin Amis: Tina Brown "Got The Scent Off Me"

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

Wrapitup
12/04/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
So if he said all this shit and was a poor Southern trailer-park dweller, then he'd be racist.

But because he wrote a novel or two and he's a Brit, he's just controversial.
Reply

Wrapitup was starred Wrapitup was unstarred

Tremonius
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
One of my favorite trajectory stories when I was a child was about a really powerful hitter. Man, he could clobber that ol' apple. Hit a line drive. It was only about head high when it crossed over second base; the center fielder came up for it, saw it rising, reversed, and scampered to the wall. It was like a boy chasing a bird. That sucker was still climbing when it left the park.

I could never get that right in my mind. How did it cross so low over second base without taking the pitcher's head with it?

Imagine now an airliner scooting down Fifth Avenue a few yards over the heads of pedestrians. Then it hits the tower. At the tenth floor, wasn't it? Sucker was still climbing when it left the park.

It also had to do a pirouette to hit the building as it did, true?
Reply

Tremonius was starred Tremonius was unstarred

MissNormaDesmond
12/03/08

@Tremonius: Oh, okay, duh (that's directed to me). Thanks for clarifying.
Reply

MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred

RollsRoyceRevenge
12/04/08

@Tremonius: Oops, I see you got there first.@MissNormaDesmond: No worries. If you don;t live in New York the width of the streets might not be apparent.
Reply

RollsRoyceRevenge was starred

RollsRoyceRevenge
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
This is the prat who wrote this following 56 bags of bullshit:

"My wife's sister had just taken her children to school and was standing on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Eleventh Street at 8:58 a.m., on the eleventh day of the ninth month of 2001 (the duo-millennial anniversary of Christianity). For a moment she imagined herself to be on a runway at Kennedy Airport. She looked up to see the glistening underbelly of the 767, a matter of yards above her head. (Another witness described plane number one as "driving" down Fifth Avenue at 400 mph.) There is a modest arch that fronts Washington Square Park; American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles was flying so low that it had to climb to clear it."

And somehow people care what comes out of his mouth other than vomit (and that only if they happen to be unfortunate enough to be standing next to him)?
Reply

RollsRoyceRevenge was starred

MissNormaDesmond
12/03/08

@RollsRoyceRevenge: It's entirely possible that I'm very, very thick, but I don't see what about that is supposed to enrage me. Would you elaborate a bit? I may well end up agreeing with you, but right now I don't understand.
Reply

MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred

RollsRoyceRevenge
12/04/08

@MissNormaDesmond: Try driving a plane down Fifth Avenue some time and you'll come to the conclusion that the cited paragraph is hyperbole about a subject that requires no hyperbole whatsoever.

If the plane had tried to perform this maneuver it would have crashed into some structure long before reaching the Washington Square Arch--and if it had flown anywhere as near to his sister-in-law as claimed, the engine blast would have blown her down the street.

Either he is a liar or retarded.
Reply

RollsRoyceRevenge was starred

jckinnick
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
How about posting the racist quote from 2006.
Reply

jckinnick was starred jckinnick was unstarred

MissNormaDesmond
12/04/08

@jckinnick: It's most of the first paragraph of the post.
Reply

MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred

bjonston
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
This is a public service announcement:

Welcome to the Sheila Shuttle Express!

To get drunk in NYC, click here:

[gawker.com]

To discuss the publishing industry, click here:

[gawker.com]

To discuss the racism of Martin Amis, click here:

[gawker.com]

To discuss The Real World Brooklyn, click here:

[gawker.com]

With love,

Mr. B
Reply

bjonston was starred bjonston was unstarred

Pinekatz
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
I know this is probably terrible. But for some reason, I can't get too worked up over this. I don't know if its all the terrorism or the explosions or the death or the bleeding bodies piling up around the world. I don't know if its Israel and 9/11 and Mumbai. Not sure if its that or if its... Wait, yea, its that.
Reply

Pinekatz was starred Pinekatz was unstarred

MissNormaDesmond
12/03/08

@Pinekatz: I doubt anyone commenting here is particularly worked up, really. We're more amused that this guy has shown his ass and is now trying to backpedal, and doing it really ineptly. If he'd just said, "Look, I was excited and not thinking clearly, and I said some stupid, racist things that I now regret," it would be over. By trying to pretend that there was nothing wrong with what he said, he makes clear that he does indeed harbor attitudes that don't bear the light too well, and has no intention of repudiating them.
Reply

MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred

zaropa
12/03/08

@Pinekatz: That and the fact that he's really really short and he smokes so its funny.
Reply

zaropa was starred zaropa was unstarred

Pinekatz
12/03/08

@MissNormaDesmond: @zaropa: Thanks you guys. The locals are nice here!
Reply

Pinekatz was starred Pinekatz was unstarred

MissNormaDesmond
12/03/08

@zaropa: The humor potential of the diminutive and fuming is well documented.
Reply

MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred

Mr. Kim Gordons Panties
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
I am shocked that anyone could be shocked by anything said by the author of Money and Dead Babies. Still, his power to offend will probably never compare to that of one M. Houellebecq, with whom he shares much in common temperamentally, or, indeed, with those of his own father, who was said by many to be a drunken monster.
Reply

bluebears
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
listen what he's really trying to say is he's down for whatever pussy makes itself available to him. and if that doesn't win him a noble peace prize I don't know what those fuckers want.
Reply

bluebears was starred bluebears was unstarred

MissNormaDesmond
12/03/08

@bluebears: Nobel Piece Prize, you mean! Pow!
Reply

MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred

cassandra
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
What does "eons between you" mean? That her forebears were advancing mathematics, architecture and philosophy while his ancestors were living in caves and garroting their princes? Because that's kind of what those eons mean.
Reply

cassandra was starred cassandra was unstarred

MissNormaDesmond
12/03/08

@cassandra: One of my favorite moments in college was listening to an Indian friend go apoplectic recounting the moment one of her classmates referred to her country as "backward". I recall snippets such as, "my people, who had a culture and a civilization while yours were still painting themselves blue and howling at the moon..." Good times.
Reply

MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred

cassandra
12/03/08

@MissNormaDesmond: exactly
Reply

cassandra was starred cassandra was unstarred

Vivien Smith-Smythe-Smith
12/04/08

@MissNormaDesmond: Ha, that's awesome! How did that go down?
Reply

Ellabella
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
It's really easy to bandy about the term racist. I remember when I was studying Women's Studies in the 90's and our teacher told us that if we were against female circumcision in African countries, we were effectively racist for judging those cultures. Finally, one brave girl lifted up her hand and said, "Fuck it. Then I'm racist because I think that's bullshit." She was right and that was a bullshit environment that oppressed free thought and discussion. I don't agree with much of what Amis is quoted as saying in that piece, but I think he is a smart and very compassionate guy who is having trouble making sense of the world. He should probably stay away from that Canadian ex-dejay guy and his insane rantings though. But I think we need to cut him some slack because his perspective is that of a guy born in Europe right after the 2nd World War, to parents who lived through the 2nd World War.

Also, Diet Coke is undoubtedly the most uncool drink.
Reply

Ellabella was starred Ellabella was unstarred

MissNormaDesmond
12/03/08

@Ellabella: So because someone once called someone racist on an illegitimate basis, it's wrong to call anyone racist ever again, even if they announce that millions of members of a religion should be penalized for the actions of people entirely unconnected to them. (Because, you know, any member of a given church has the power to control every other member of that church with their mind and make them stop being bad people. Or something. So every Muslim is at fault. Perfectly reasonable.) Oh, and also it's okay to give aid and comfort to rabid hateful xenophobes as long as you were born in Europe before 1950 (into a very comfortable upper class family with a famous father, but still, must have been tough somehow). Plus, living through the Second World War makes it impossible to be racist, maybe -- it's not really clear what the point of mentioning that is meant to be, but it's definitely important.
Reply

MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred

Ellabella
12/03/08

@MissNormaDesmond: Did you read the piece?
Reply

Ellabella was starred Ellabella was unstarred

MissNormaDesmond
12/03/08

@Ellabella: Did you? He didn't even manage to convince the interviewer. Unless you're trying to say that you weren't serious in defending him, and I've mistaken sarcasm for sincerity, in which case, oops. But from your opening anecdote, I'm thinking not.

This idea that it's impossible to harbor racist thoughts and attitudes unintentionally, or that it's not necessary for anyone to examine their own thinking as long as they're not actually goose-stepping down the street with their local cadre of the Hitler Youth (or Middle-Aged, in Amis's case) is simply dumb. The guy is advocating for Mark Steyn. What does it take?
Reply

MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred

bytememehard
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
Anyone else watch Britz? Eye-opening for this Yank.
Reply

bytememehard was starred bytememehard was unstarred

BadUncle
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
How can a man be bigoted against something he puts his penis in? It's impossible. Some of my best friends are slices of bologna.
Reply

BadUncle was starred BadUncle was unstarred

Aaron Altman
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
Martin Amis, stop making me think you're Charlie Rose with that face of yours!
Reply

Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred

Helman
12/03/08

@Aaron Altman: Ha!
Reply

Helman was starred Helman was unstarred

Aaron Altman
12/03/08

@Helman: Charlie Rose with a frisbee hat and Penguin Classics flashlight, no less.
Reply

Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred

Aaron Altman
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
Racism has to do with timing? Only on Amis's watch.
Reply

Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred

Helman
12/03/08

In reply to Martin Amis Says He Can't Be Racist if He's Kissed Muslim Girls
Team Julian Barnes.
Reply

Helman was starred Helman was unstarred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

SUBSCRIBE TO Gawker

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment