Coincidentally, I received this article "Is It Worse to Ban a Book, or Never Publish It?" in a newsletter today. Thought it was worth sharing. Scroll down to "Cancellation Nation":
Bravo! You should print this essay and send it off to literary agents as a kind of preemptive rejection letter without bothering to include the manuscript. What’s happening is very sad. I remember an instructor in a screenwriting class having us pick an abhorrent historical character to write a treatment about, only from their perspective, forcing us to see things through their eyes, excusing, as even villains do, the inexcusable. I’d argue that if you can’t do that, you can’t write compelling fiction. Milton somehow managed to add some depth to even Satan in “Paradise Lost.” About the only views dissenting from current orthodoxy that they’ll publish are those with huge built-in audiences that promise a profit they can’t turn down, starving the world of new and interesting voices. I just finished “The War on the West” by Douglas Murray (not my usual genre, but a topic that I feel an urgency to follow) and it was shocking to see so many of the disgusting scenes of illiberalism that we’ve lived through and tried to forget about collected in one text. I’m convinced that these “activists” are absolutely determined to destroy Western civilization. Oh, the irony though! Western culture is the only place these resentful hooligans could even hope to have a home. I’ve caught myself at times self-censoring, and my current mood is to say, “No, fuck it! If I believe it’s true, I’m going to say it.” It’s past time to call out at least the worst of these people as what they have chosen to be: racists, Marxists, and illiberal fools. Sharing this one! Thanks.
There is a sort of strange virtue in the publishing industry in that they are perfectly mercenary. Being mercenary is better than being ideological. Thus Penguin still published Jordan Peterson's new book despite a threatened rebellion of its younger staff. The problem is that the first line of gatekeepers, the junior agents and editors, are all recent graduates of liberal arts program and they are all completely indoctrinated. This has been the case for some time, though it is clearly becoming more extreme.
Other voices can still get published, but the traditional route for an unknown writer is pretty much closed to any but the woke. The rest of us would need to find another way in, which means to gain notoriety and an audience by other means.
To be fair, this is hardly the first time this has been the case. Periods of true liberality among the gatekeepers of publishing are probably rare. It is a rare and special thing for a young editor or agent to have the grace to say, I disagree with everything this book says, and I think we should publish it.
“Art is never decoration, embellishment; instead , it is the work of enlightenment. Art in other words, is a technique for acquiring liberty.” Bruce Lee
I hope to see you all at the Heart Room. Starting on the 1st of August.
Another fabulous article, J.M.! I so enjoy reading your observations on what’s going on in the literary world. I’ve heard a lot, lately, that people are having a hard time finding books to read, movies to watch etc. that they can “get into”. Enjoy, I think, is what they mean. Thank you, for putting your words out into the world on this topic.
Coincidentally, I received this article "Is It Worse to Ban a Book, or Never Publish It?" in a newsletter today. Thought it was worth sharing. Scroll down to "Cancellation Nation":
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/07/is-it-worse-to-ban-a-book-or-never-publish-it/670968/
Bravo! You should print this essay and send it off to literary agents as a kind of preemptive rejection letter without bothering to include the manuscript. What’s happening is very sad. I remember an instructor in a screenwriting class having us pick an abhorrent historical character to write a treatment about, only from their perspective, forcing us to see things through their eyes, excusing, as even villains do, the inexcusable. I’d argue that if you can’t do that, you can’t write compelling fiction. Milton somehow managed to add some depth to even Satan in “Paradise Lost.” About the only views dissenting from current orthodoxy that they’ll publish are those with huge built-in audiences that promise a profit they can’t turn down, starving the world of new and interesting voices. I just finished “The War on the West” by Douglas Murray (not my usual genre, but a topic that I feel an urgency to follow) and it was shocking to see so many of the disgusting scenes of illiberalism that we’ve lived through and tried to forget about collected in one text. I’m convinced that these “activists” are absolutely determined to destroy Western civilization. Oh, the irony though! Western culture is the only place these resentful hooligans could even hope to have a home. I’ve caught myself at times self-censoring, and my current mood is to say, “No, fuck it! If I believe it’s true, I’m going to say it.” It’s past time to call out at least the worst of these people as what they have chosen to be: racists, Marxists, and illiberal fools. Sharing this one! Thanks.
“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all.” - Oscar Wilde
There is a sort of strange virtue in the publishing industry in that they are perfectly mercenary. Being mercenary is better than being ideological. Thus Penguin still published Jordan Peterson's new book despite a threatened rebellion of its younger staff. The problem is that the first line of gatekeepers, the junior agents and editors, are all recent graduates of liberal arts program and they are all completely indoctrinated. This has been the case for some time, though it is clearly becoming more extreme.
Other voices can still get published, but the traditional route for an unknown writer is pretty much closed to any but the woke. The rest of us would need to find another way in, which means to gain notoriety and an audience by other means.
To be fair, this is hardly the first time this has been the case. Periods of true liberality among the gatekeepers of publishing are probably rare. It is a rare and special thing for a young editor or agent to have the grace to say, I disagree with everything this book says, and I think we should publish it.
“Art is never decoration, embellishment; instead , it is the work of enlightenment. Art in other words, is a technique for acquiring liberty.” Bruce Lee
I hope to see you all at the Heart Room. Starting on the 1st of August.
I agree with this post so much. Thank you for expressing this sentiment so clearly. Bravo 👏
Another fabulous article, J.M.! I so enjoy reading your observations on what’s going on in the literary world. I’ve heard a lot, lately, that people are having a hard time finding books to read, movies to watch etc. that they can “get into”. Enjoy, I think, is what they mean. Thank you, for putting your words out into the world on this topic.
Pleasure