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robert olen butler
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the opposite of sexy
Robert Olen Butler Imagines The Sex Lives Of The Famous, Reveals Own Neuroses (Again)
"You're never more alone than when you're coupling," reads the introduction to a feature in December's Playboy by "Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Robert Olen Butler." Of course, nobody knows loneliness better than R.O.B.—he's the one whose wife left him for Ted Turner, prompting him to write one of the craziest emails we've ever seen about how happy he is for them and how he totally understands why his wife would want to be with an older man since her childhood abuser was one and you, you, you, oughta know! Anyway, Playboy has given him the task of imagining what's going on in the minds of, among others, Santa and an elf, young Hillary Rodham and Bill Clinton, and present-day George and Laura Bush. The results might be the unsexiest thing in Playboy, and that is saying a lot. More »
trends
Divorce Is The New Marriage
A recent mass-emailed divorce announcement made Salon's Nora Zelevansky and her boyfriend "feel like intruders, as if we were guests at a wedding for anyone other than our dearest friends and family." But these emails, and the attendant divorce parties and ceremonies, are becoming de rigeur. "Some divorcees embrace announcements and parties as a way to put the word out on their own terms and with their own public spin," Nora writes, explaining that "Christine Gallagher, the Los Angeles author of 'The Divorce Party Planner,' agrees that 'The tone of the announcement can speak volumes about what happened, so that others don't feel it's an unmentionable subject.' Perhaps Robert Olen Butler, the recently-jilted author of a Pulitzer-winning book and also the craziest email we've ever seen, could have benefited from Christine's book! She also "believes a theme party is key to salving the soul."
contests
'The Gawker Guide To Conquering All Media': The First Contest
Hey! Our book is out! Today's the big day when this website joins the ranks of published authors such as Jose Canseco, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and Robert Olen Butler! To celebrate The Gawker Guide To Conquering All Media, we're gonna run three contests, because we got corporate to cough up some actual dough for prizes. We'll kick off with a quick and dirty yet secretly difficult contest. On October 19th, we'll randomly choose someone who correctly named all the people on the cover of the book and they will win an iPod video nano. You have to use our handy-dandy submission form—and naturally, the usual contest rules apply. Fair warning: Our upcoming contests will actually require you to, you know, have read the book.
hubris
Robert Olen Butler Has Always Been Like This
From the mailbag, regarding our favorite author-being-divorced-for-Ted-Turner:In graduate school, Ann Beattie used to tell stories about how over-the-top he is. It always strained credibility, because Ann Beattie is similarly over-the-top, and for her to claim that someone else had a big ego just seemed sort of weird. She said that he once silenced the person introducing him at a writers conference by saying, "When you have won the Pulitzer, you no longer require an introduction."And to think, now he requires an introduction even less.
"Remember how [Robert Olen Butler] told off Gawker, insisting his detailed explanation of why his wife left him for Ted Turner was 'intended strictly for those who personally know Elizabeth and me' and 'had its intended effect around Tallahassee and in some other places where she and I are actual human beings'? Well, it turns out those 'other places' stretch way past Florida, as we hear through the grapevine that some version of that email worked its way north to the complete opposite end of the country, to people who spend significantly less quality personal time with Butler than his creative writing students. Little enough time, in fact, that the recipients thought the bulletin was creepy." [Galleycat]
we get letters
A Close Reading Of Robert Olen Butler's Latest Email
"Can you please give voice to this at your site?" reads the subject line of Pulitzer-winning author Robert Olen Butler's latest email to us. We certainly can. If you recall, Robert's wife of twelve years, author Elizabeth Dewberry recently left him to become one of Ted Turner's girlfriends, which prompted him to send an email to five of his grad students explaining the circumstances in vivid—novelistic!—detail. Today, he writes, "I am sure there are a number of your followers who actually might want to understand this intense letter which was written in an extreme emotional circumstance. They encountered the email with no knowledge of two of the three principal players in the drama. They have only a sound-bite-and-media-spun understanding of the third. I can well see how a first reaction to the email by someone for whom it was not intended might be that it is only a bizarre and inappropriate document worthy of scorn." Let's allow him the space he needs in order to attempt to convince us that it is otherwise. More »
gawker book club
'Jealous Husband Returns In The Form Of A Parrot' By Robert Olen Butler
Sure, we all know that Robert Olen Butler is the Pulitzer-winning author whose author wife, Elizabeth Dewberry, just left him to become one of media mogul Ted Turner's girlfriends, prompting him to pen the nuttiest email of all time. But how familiar are we all with his award-winning work? Maybe some excerpts from this short story, which first appeared in the New Yorker in 1995, would be a good primer. It is about what you think: a man turns into a parrot, is purchased as a pet by his wife, and is forced to watch her cavort around the house with her new lover. More »
eyes on the peys
It's World Breastfeeding Week, But Andrea Peyser Isn't Celebrating
This first week is a very important holiday (of sorts!) for millions of lactating womyn, according to this website: World Breastfeeding Week. The organizers of this week, which is celebrated in 120 countries annually, strive to bring attention to the fact that breastfeeding can reduce infant mortality, and they need your help letting the message leak out: "Remember to send us pictures, news, media reports about your activities and you'll receive a free breastfeeding photo calendar 2008." Okay! But one lady of our acquaintance won't be joining in the festivities: Post scold Andrea Peyser. Turns out that she's... a mom? (OMG, what?) Also, she's pretty skeptical about the whole "milk from your body is good for your baby's health" thing. More »
chidings
Robert Olen Butler Says His Mass Email Was 'Intended Strictly For Those Who Personally Know Elizabeth And Me'
So! Jilted author Robert Olen Butler isn't happy that yesterday we published the email he sent to his grad students. You know, the email that began "this sort of thing can get wildly distorted pretty quickly. You can feel free to use any part or all of this email to do so," and in which he explained exactly why his wife was leaving him for Ted Turner (she was abused by her grandpa!). In his email to us, he sounded steamed!
More »
gossip roundup
Britney Spears Is A Fun Mom
money changes everything
