Siding with the bullies
Sometimes the bitterness is overwhelming.
The Guardian puts the boot in:
More than 500 authors and book industry professionals have signed an open letter calling on Waterstones to reverse a decision to dismiss an employee who said she would tear up and throw away books written by a gender-critical author.
Yes that’s right, side with the bratty entitled snot who tried to sabotage a novelist, don’t even consider siding with the novelist who did nothing to deserve the sabotage.
Figures including Chocolat author Joanne Harris, writer and podcaster Dorian Lynskey, and author and culture journalist Jason Okundaye have backed Tilly Fitzgerald, who posts book-related content and reviews under the username TillyLovesBooks on social media. Fitzgerald was sacked after responding to a post on X by author Christina Dalcher, which appeared to endorse a publishing network for those “concerned about the impact of gender ideology” on the sector. Fitzgerald wrote: “Ooh, I’ll enjoy tearing up your books and popping them in the bin today. Thanks for the heads up.”
Maybe just maybe writers shouldn’t be defending the brat who bragged about tearing up books at the expense of the non-brat who writes them.
Fitzgerald told the Guardian: “My intention responding to Dalcher was only to let her know that I would no longer be supporting her books in my personal capacity as a reviewer.”
Brazen lie. She could have just told her that. Bragging about tearing up Dalcher’s books is another thing altogether.
The open letter, which was published by British comedy script writer Sara Gibbs, said that its signatories “feel it is an egregious error to terminate the employment of a dedicated, passionate and knowledgeable bookseller for expressing a personal opinion about an author and their work on their social media page.”
Another brazen lie. She didn’t just “express a personal opinion.” She went well beyond that.
“We would like to express support and solidarity with Tilly, and to urge Waterstones to do the right thing and reinstate her,” the letter goes on to say.
No solidarity for Christina Dalcher then.
Quelle surprise, Obsequious Transmaiden Laurie Penny signed the letter.
If it’s any comfort, I only recognised three of the names of the list (Penny, Joanne Harris, and Dorian Lynskey).
It would be a miracle if she hadn’t.
And of course they’d all sign a letter demanding she be sacked if she’d said the same about a “trans” author.
Another day, another list of authors to avoid.
Yet each list looks the same as the last, the same old has been and wannabes without an original thought among them.
I tolerated Harry Potter to understand the appeal, but only got through two, I enjoyed all the Galbraiths except “Ink Black Heart”, but one thing no one can deny about JKR; if she targets you, you’d better duck because the words that flow from her pen are biting and satirising in a way these nobodies could ever attempt.
Perhaps TillyBurnsBooks could spend a year or two studying JKR’s writing and learn how to be a better, more informed critic. Or would that mean work?
“Do the right thing,” eh? The “right thing” is to continue to employ someone who threatens to destroy some of the merchandise for political reasons? The “right thing” is for a bookseller to retain an employee who wants to censor an author carried by the employer? Disloyalty is the “right thing” nowadays?
If they’re notable enough to sign such a letter then how come I’ve heard of almost none of them (Laurie Penny, yes, but who else?). If anyone cares to assemble a list of real authors to sign an “alternative” letter I’d be happy to add my name, though my books are ones no one outside my field will have heard of. The latest (and almost certainly last) one, published in 2016, includes a brief mention of genuinely ambiguous sex. In 2016 I didn’t know about “trans-gender”, but afterwards I did wonder if I might have have offended members of the cult, but so far nothing.