Gawker: warren st. john

Why Won't the Times Review Warren St. John's Book?

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:10:05 EDT

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Warren St. John, the dreamy NYT reporter and author of incongruous 'Bama football book Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, has a heartwarming new book about refugee soccer players that is a smash hit. Why won't his own paper review it?

Somebody went and blabbed to Page Six that the paper is stiffing St. John on a review out of jealousy:

"The official line to St. John is that they weren't reviewing because it would seem like too much of a self-promotion of the Times, but that's ridiculous. They review all books by their reporters," our insider said.

"The real reason is they are totally jealous he scored the book and the movie rights. It's typical passive-aggressive behavior of the Times suits towards their staff, like, 'He hit the jackpot, he got mentioned on Oprah. Why should we help him?'

It's a fair point: The NYT did review St. John's first book, and it does review most of the books by its high profile staffers—Jennifer 8 Lee, David Carr, etc. And it's hard to argue St. John's book isn't worthy of the same attention.

Then again, would the paper really be jealous of St. John's success? It helps their image, too. Not to mention the fact that the paper got a significant chunk of the $2 million deal for the movie rights. The NYT actually has every incentive to make the book as visible as any other staffer's book.

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Very mysterious. If you're a NYT staffer with some insight into this issue and would like to weigh in, feel free to email us (we'll keep you anonymous). Could this photo of St. John being accosted by Nick Denton at a media party have something to do with it? Probably not.

[P6. Pic via]

Proliferating Alabama Writers

Nick Denton — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:51:01 EDT

The distinguishing characteristic of a meme—even the fragile idea that there's an Alabama school of writers such as Howell Raines, Warren St John and Elizabeth Spiers—is that it's self-perpetuating. Which is the only explanation for the precocious literary ambition of 17-year-old Alex Niedenthal from Birmingham.

'The Wall Street Journal' Owns Their Reporters' Brand

rebecca — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:09:29 EST

Wall Street Journal, ever the business paper, is making good on that by demanding royalties from books their reporters write based on research they originally did for the paper. The staff find the policy "ridiculous." But even if print is dying, book publishing is relatively viable. Journalists can make a lot more from a best-selling book than from reporting on metro education stories. So it's hardly ridiculous for newspaper to want a piece of it. Consider the success of New York Times trend story heartthrob Warren St. John.

St. John, best known for his thick locks and most-emailed metrosexual story, is working on a book about a youth soccer team in Clarkston, Ga. Universal has already acquired the movie rights for the yet to-be-published book based on an article he published in the New York Times last year.

In light of the fact that St. John's movie deal was worth $2 to $3 million, he only needs the Times for their health care coverage. But the piece was great promotion for the book and subsequent film. St. John, who also wrote a book about Alabama football based on New York Times reporting, is bigger than the Sunday Styles breaches he started in. The Times isn't playing the fool. By letting St. John go on a semi-sabbatical, they got to run a great a story first while keeping St. John under contract.

Wall Street Journal writers are upset about this new deal. But they're forgetting that the paper will also help with promotion. If reporters want to be brands, it's only fair for their papers want to be their agents.

"Journal Seeks a Cut in Reporters' Book Deals" [NYO]

"Refugees Find Hostility and Hope on Soccer Field" [NYT]

Media Bubble: Name and Shame

abalk2 — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:50:28 EST

What do all these kids have in common? They're being exploited by a Murdoch-owned paper to boost sales in the wake of that whole racist "Big Brother" episode. [Guardian]
Yet another editor leaves Louise McBain's LTB Media. [WWD]
Jack Shafer wants to know why the Journal won't say that Todd Thomson did it to Maria Bartiromo. [Slate]
Meanwhile, Maria's planning a "Charlie Rose style" Q&A show. We can think of a couple of questions already. [NYP]
Here's how the Warren St. John soccer story sold. [WSJ]

Mark Green's brother buys Air America; Al Franken departs. [NYT]
Demetri Martin, John Hodgman: the latest in geek chic. [NYT
Someone really hurt Gary Kamiya's feelings. [Salon]
David Puttnam, who produced our all-time favorite movie, may become the new chairman of the BBC. [Independent]

Remainders: Currently Working On Our Breakthrough Soccer Story

Doree Shafrir — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:50:55 EST

'NYT' hottie Warren St. John writes about refugee soccer players, gets insta-movie deal. [Variety]

Eat the Press interviews Fashionista's Faran Krentcil. So much Spiers love today! [ETP]

The NYT's Anne Kornblut starts at the WaPo practically the second she leaves the Times building. [VV]

Another thing to add to the list of reasons why we don't live in Prospect Heights: loogie-hocking. [Curbed]

Plaintiff Ron St. John Either Hates or Loves 'Rammer Jammer' Defendant Warren St. John

Jesse — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 17:15:45 EST

So this morning we learned that Warren St. John's non-relative Ron St. John is suing the Times reporter for putting a photo of Ron's RV, nicknamed "The Toad," on the cover of his Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer paperback and, in some doing, somehow behaved in ways that "are atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society." Among the several fun things about this case — the complaint itself, from which we quoted this morning; the fact that Ron's lawyer is named "Cracker" Waldrop — is Ron's personal website, Toadstuff.com, which features prominently on its front page the book cover that has so inflamed his delicate sensibilities.

On the main index page, we clicked on "How did the Toad get on the cover of the book?" We were ready for a tale of avarice and betrayal, intolerable behavior and uncivilized goings-on. This is what we got:

In the beginning of the 1999 season, I had "THE TOAD" ready for another great year of ALABAMA FOOTBALL tailgating. I met Warren at our first game, the LA.TECH game in Birmingham's Legion Field. He introduced himself and said he was planning to write a book about football tailgating....

Afterwards, when I would see Warren, he would tell me how the book was coming along and promised that one day it would be published. We still thought he wanted free beer, but it was good to see him. When the book came out, I was glad to see it do so well and we talked about it several times.

Then one day, Warren calls me and tells me a paperback edition is in order. He also said that they wanted to change the cover. He said that they wanted to put a motor home on the cover and that the motor home they wanted was "THE TOAD".

For this, I am very honored. On top of that, then he tells me that "THE TOAD" could go on the road to help promote the book. I look forward to the challenge and to the adventure that this experience will provide.

Hey "Cracker"? Think you missed some due diligence.

Toadstuff.com
Earlier: 'Rammer Jammer' Gets Warren St. John Sued

'Rammer Jammer' Gets Warren St. John Sued

Jesse — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 10:40:01 EST

We were advised Friday afternoon that we might want to check out a certain lawsuit filed in the U.S. district court for the northern district of Alabama. At the end of the day Friday, we got our hands on the relevant complaint. And it turns out that stylish Time style reporter Warren St. John has been sued.

Why? Because he and his publisher, Crown, put on the cover of the Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer paperback a photo of a 1972 Dodge Champion RV known as "The Toad." St. John's Rammer Jammer is an exploration of the cultlike devotion displayed by fans of Crimson Tide football, and The Toad is the vehicle in which one of those dedicated fans, Ron St. John — who we don't think is related to Warren, except inasmuch as we assume they're all related down there — follows the Crimson Tide. And apparently Warren broke Ron's Alabamian heart by publishing the photo. As Ron's suit explains:

15. Defendant(s) intentionally or recklessly caused Plaintiff to suffer emotional distress by using the likeness of Plaintiff's RV, "The Toad," to increase the sales of Defendant Warren St. John's book regarding fan mania. Said Defendant Warren St. John researched such fanaticism by buying an RV, dubbing it "The Hawg," which said identity is used in his book, and followed a group of Crimson Tide RV tailgaters that included Plaintiff. Defendant(s), in order to increase sales of said book for its paperback release, modified the title to reflect a "road trip into fan mania" and used Plaintiff's RV on the cover without credit given to Plaintiff that it was his RV "The Toad." ...

18. Defendant(s)' actions toward Plaintiff were so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency, and are atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society.

Of course, we'd argue that living in a 30-year-old RV while following a football team around the country is more or less intolerable in civilized society. But we suppose that's a separate point. A big chunk of the suit's most fun part is after the jump.

15. Defendant(s) intentionally or recklessly caused Plaintiff to suffer emotional distress by using the likeness of Plaintiff's RV, "The Toad," to increase the sales of Defendant Warren St. John's book regarding fan mania. Said Defendant Warren St. John researched such fanaticism by buying an RV, dubbing it "The Hawg," which said identity is used in his book, and followed a group of Crimson Tide RV tailgaters that included Plaintiff. Defendant(s), in order to increase sales of said book for its paperback release, modified the title to reflect a "road trip into fan mania" and used Plaintiff's RV on the cover without credit given to Plaintiff that it was his RV "The Toad."

16. Since the release of said paperback edition using the image of his RV on the cover, Plaintiff avers that he has been overwhelmed with curiosity by Crimson Tide Fans inquiring if his RV is "The Hawg" as they read about in Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip into Fan Mania.

17. Plaintiff avers that he has owned said his [sic] RV since __________. Said RV has always been identified by its green appearance and its nickname "The Toad" prior to Defendant Warren St. John's book.
18. Defendant(s)' actions toward Plaintiff were so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency, and are atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society.

19. The emotional distress that Defendant(s) caused Plaintiff to suffer was so severe that no reasonable person could be expected to endure it....

28. Plaintiff as a proximate consequence of said invasion of Plaintiff's privacy was caused to suffer the following injuries and damages, to-wit: Plaintiff's RV "The Toad" is no longer a signature that uniquely identifies Plaintiff with Crimson Tide Fans and financial gain to Defendant(s) from unlawful exploitation of Plaintiff's likeness.

Remainders: Fashion Week Eats Our Children

Jessica — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:20:53 EST

• For the remaining handful of you who still fail to comprehend why Fashion Week is the work of Satan himself, consider this: child runway models. You can go and say it's not JonBenet Ramsey, but we're not buying it. Does that little girl's face not tell of her suffering?! [Reuters]
• The Department of Child and Family Services is investigating Britney Spears after she was seen driving with her infant child in her lap. If they take the baby, maybe they can take K-Fed, too. [TMZ]
• Every once in awhile, Village Voice gossip Michael Musto gets off of his bike and shits out a million blind items, all at once. We can't even fathom how to arrange them into a guessing game, so just go on over and knock yourselves out. [VV]
• Aileen Gallagher at FishbowlNY talks to Warren St. John about the JT Leroy hoax; we imagine that after the interview, she took him to her boudoir and made sweet, syrupy love to him and his muscle tee. Well done, girlfriend. [FishbowlNY]
• A strip club indicted for tax evasion? You don't say. [NYP]
• Imagining a day in the life of reformed meth addict Jodi Sweetin, pre-rehab. [The Road More Traveled]
• Michael Kors is Mugatu. [Logged Hours]
• And last — but certainly not least — we proudly share with you some "love and sex advice" from Star Jones Reynolds. If you're brave, you'll crank up the volume for this one. [AOL]

Breaking: 'Times' Says There Is No Such Person as JT Leroy (Again)

Jesse — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 09:13:33 EST

And finally, on the front page of today's Arts section, Warren St. John finally brings us the JT Leroy denouement:

A central figure in the case of the mysterious writer JT Leroy has come forward to say that no one named JT Leroy exists, and that the books published under that name were actually written by a San Francisco woman named Laura Albert.

Huge, big, major news! No one named JT Leroy exists!

By which we really mean: Um, duh.

Figure in JT Leroy Case Says Partner Is Culprit [NYT]

Marrieds vs. Singles

Gawker — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 12:15:21 EST

Warren St. John assesses the irresistable impulse to which married people succomb around single people: the obsessive compulsion to facilitate hook-ups, dates—and hopefully marriages—lest the poor wretched singletons spend the rest of their days rotting away in a miserable state of Alone. The motivations behind this sort of behavior range from a need to live vicariously through single friends to genuine concern for the happiness of the single person in question. But the primary attraction for most of the marrieds is, of course, the day-after gossip.
Bob, meet Jane. And give me the details. [NYT]