Sunday 5 August 2012

Is this sane?

Why would anyone (in his right mind) bother to devote so much time and energy to boosting his own ego by adulating himself under multiple false identities?
The time would surely be better spent working to improve the writing he publishes under his own name.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/05/nick-cohen-cheating-authors-journalists
The more I think about it, the stupider it seems. Work on your own writing, whatever your real name is, and get yourself some genuine admirers. If you can't, maybe it's time to stop writing?

9 comments:

Guillaume said...

Reading the article now. Sickening. I read a book by Stephen Leather, Cold Kill. I was to say the least underwhelmed. A mish mash of crime and spy thriller with an uber bland hero. There was a couple of ridiculous scenes, including one where he shoots down terrorists in the toilets of the Eurostar without anybody hearing the noise. I mean if it is what readers like, fine. He can be a vain author too and thinks he is the greatest thing to British crime fiction since Arthur Conan Doyle. But if he goes into cyber bullying, then he crosses the line big time.

BernardL said...

That guy has taken sock puppetry to new heights. I guess it's easy if you don't have a conscience.

Charles Gramlich said...

so silly. Just amazing what folks will do.

Leigh Russell said...

Yes, Guillaume. There are a number of issues - the false identities to massage his own ego, and the bullying. Ridiculous and reprehensible if it's all true. I'm assuming it must be as it was reported in the Guardian.

Leigh Russell said...

This was the first time I'd heard the term sock puppetry, Bernard. A lot of people seem to have lost any integrity. Maybe it's never been any different? That's one reason I think crime fiction is so popular. It gives us a moral compass, good vs evil.

Leigh Russell said...

Charles sums it all up in one word: silly. Got it one, my friend!

Guillaume said...

I would be the first to give Leather the benenit of the doubt if I thought his books were any good. But we know for a fact some of it is true: he himself said he used pseudonyms to make publicity for his novels. That would be bad enough, but to bully on top of this, that's morally repulsive.

I could understand that sometimes one might get into a conflict of interest. Anthony Burgess once had to review his own novel, written as a pseudonym, he tried to get out of this one by writing a negative review. But even this could be seen as questionable. However, it was not done out of malicious intent. What Leather did is in another league. it is slimy and vile.

Guillaume said...

Oh, and someone please tell him he should deflate his ego.

Leigh Russell said...

Strong words, Guillaume, but justified in this case. The fact that he boasted about it says it all.