Anonymous wrote:Huh.

He's gay, so it's not as much of a smoking gun as you'd think.

Huh.

Anonymous wrote:I’m late to the game but just did a 3-day binge of this story.

What struck me even early on is that Sonya, with a white passing name and face and from an affluent background, wrote her stories with characters named Chuntao and Bao who were working class. Even before we get into the plagiarism and kidney drama, that to me is appropriative to begin with — I’ve seen it done in my own minority group where the people who pass wave their heritage like a flag and use it as currency while those who actually face discrimination because they can’t pass are voiceless. Not to mention the tone deafness around class.

Combine that with the fact that Sonya weaponized her status against a woman from an actual working class background, even if she is white, makes all this a statement on how some portion of the elite are using their identities in a way that obfuscates actual power dynamics.

Thoughtful commentary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No consequences for Castellani. He just posted this pile of self-serving, annoyed-sounding whining:

https://grubstreet.org/blog/message-from-christopher-castellani/

He clearly doesn't have any regrets other than being caught.

NP here. Blech. That is a truly obnoxious statement.

"I wrote some of those unprofessional emails as an admittedly hyperbolic, deliberatively provocative, and highly performative way of supporting my friend and fellow writer."

Puke.

“I was a cruel bullying asshole, but it was performative! If you were more intellectual and cool like we CMs, you would get that, sorry you’re not smart enough.”

I actually think this is a big part of it. There’s this thread of vicious sarcasm and cynicism that runs through a lot f quasi-intellectual or arty circles. I went to collage and grad school with this sort and I recognize it. People who are sincere and maybe a little trusty are targets for them. I think they fancy themselves witty, in the tradition of the Algonquin Rountable, Oscar Wilde, etc.—but I think they are generally just insecure and snobbish. The ones that are insecure are more likely to fold when called on it, though.
I don’t even think he’s using “performative” correctly in this context. I’m sort of curious to read his books now and see if his personality comes through. I often can’t tolerate fiction where one can tell that the author is just sort of a d—ck. It often comes through in a sort of condescension to the characters.

I know exactly what you mean, as someone who consumes a lot of litfic. This strain of cruelty comes through the writing and it is such a tedious slog to get through, because inasmuch as authors like Castellani view themselves as superior to all other people, they view themselves as superior to their characters. I've started trying to figure out what authors are like that, because I know I will be bored by their books. The plots may vary, but the same tired sneering is endemic. I think that many of these folks desperately want to be Oscar Wilde but simply don't have the skill, and their books fall flat.

Unfortunately that element isn't easy to suss out ahead of time. At least the CMs and the supporting blue checks have made my life easier in that regard; I now have a bunch of authors in my DNR list. And this scandal has shown how incestuous and self-promoting the litfic world is. One takeaway for me is that I shouldn't really give any credence to author endorsements or reviews from journals like the New Yorker. They are too entwined in the community to impartially assess the books.

Anonymous wrote:I’m late to the game but just did a 3-day binge of this story.

What struck me even early on is that Sonya, with a white passing name and face and from an affluent background, wrote her stories with characters named Chuntao and Bao who were working class. Even before we get into the plagiarism and kidney drama, that to me is appropriative to begin with — I’ve seen it done in my own minority group where the people who pass wave their heritage like a flag and use it as currency while those who actually face discrimination because they can’t pass are voiceless. Not to mention the tone deafness around class.

Combine that with the fact that Sonya weaponized her status against a woman from an actual working class background, even if she is white, makes all this a statement on how some portion of the elite are using their identities in a way that obfuscates actual power dynamics.

THANK YOU. I dipped my toe into this line of observation more than 100 pages ago but it makes people nervous. My EXACT reaction because I’m mixed and know EXACTLY what you’re talking about. My WOC mom read the article at my urging and initially thought Dorland was half-Chinese, for the very limited amount it is worth.

I’m late to the game but just did a 3-day binge of this story.

What struck me even early on is that Sonya, with a white passing name and face and from an affluent background, wrote her stories with characters named Chuntao and Bao who were working class. Even before we get into the plagiarism and kidney drama, that to me is appropriative to begin with — I’ve seen it done in my own minority group where the people who pass wave their heritage like a flag and use it as currency while those who actually face discrimination because they can’t pass are voiceless. Not to mention the tone deafness around class.

Combine that with the fact that Sonya weaponized her status against a woman from an actual working class background, even if she is white, makes all this a statement on how some portion of the elite are using their identities in a way that obfuscates actual power dynamics.

Becky Tuch needs to be given a blue check by Twitter.

Anonymous wrote:More from Twitter. Twitter seems pretty universally unimpressed, at least, but of course the blue checks are silent.

GO BECKY!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No consequences for Castellani. He just posted this pile of self-serving, annoyed-sounding whining:

https://grubstreet.org/blog/message-from-christopher-castellani/

He clearly doesn't have any regrets other than being caught.

NP here. Blech. That is a truly obnoxious statement.

"I wrote some of those unprofessional emails as an admittedly hyperbolic, deliberatively provocative, and highly performative way of supporting my friend and fellow writer."

Puke.

“I was a cruel bullying asshole, but it was performative! If you were more intellectual and cool like we CMs, you would get that, sorry you’re not smart enough.”

This, exactly. I’m 45 and this thread is giving me flashbacks to the absolute worst people I knew in college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No consequences for Castellani. He just posted this pile of self-serving, annoyed-sounding whining:

https://grubstreet.org/blog/message-from-christopher-castellani/

He clearly doesn't have any regrets other than being caught.

NP here. Blech. That is a truly obnoxious statement.

"I wrote some of those unprofessional emails as an admittedly hyperbolic, deliberatively provocative, and highly performative way of supporting my friend and fellow writer."

Puke.

“I was a cruel bullying asshole, but it was performative! If you were more intellectual and cool like we CMs, you would get that, sorry you’re not smart enough.”

I actually think this is a big part of it. There’s this thread of vicious sarcasm and cynicism that runs through a lot f quasi-intellectual or arty circles. I went to collage and grad school with this sort and I recognize it. People who are sincere and maybe a little trusty are targets for them. I think they fancy themselves witty, in the tradition of the Algonquin Rountable, Oscar Wilde, etc.—but I think they are generally just insecure and snobbish. The ones that are insecure are more likely to fold when called on it, though.
I don’t even think he’s using “performative” correctly in this context. I’m sort of curious to read his books now and see if his personality comes through. I often can’t tolerate fiction where one can tell that the author is just sort of a d—ck. It often comes through in a sort of condescension to the characters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No consequences for Castellani. He just posted this pile of self-serving, annoyed-sounding whining:

https://grubstreet.org/blog/message-from-christopher-castellani/

He clearly doesn't have any regrets other than being caught.

NP here. Blech. That is a truly obnoxious statement.

"I wrote some of those unprofessional emails as an admittedly hyperbolic, deliberatively provocative, and highly performative way of supporting my friend and fellow writer."

Puke.

“I was a cruel bullying asshole, but it was performative! If you were more intellectual and cool like we CMs, you would get that, sorry you’re not smart enough.”

Anonymous wrote:What is amazing about both Castellani's statement and GrubStreet's is how little they care. They make no effort to clear Dorland's name, obfuscate some of the facts (Larson sued, Dorland), falsify the issues at play (no mention of ableism), and do not apologize.

This is not an institution that GAF. They want money from new writers and the government, and that's it.

Totally agree! The lack of any self reflection of the part of individuals involved nor reflection of the organization is really striking coming from a group of f’in writers!

More from Twitter. Twitter seems pretty universally unimpressed, at least, but of course the blue checks are silent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No consequences for Castellani. He just posted this pile of self-serving, annoyed-sounding whining:

https://grubstreet.org/blog/message-from-christopher-castellani/

He clearly doesn't have any regrets other than being caught.

NP here. Blech. That is a truly obnoxious statement.

And neither the word "sorry" nor "apology" appears once -- it's a word swamp that basically blames you for getting offended by his private emails.

He needs to go.

I don't know why any corporation would hire Locke Lorde in employment matters at this point.