Diary of a Mad Editor

Archive for February, 2006

O Fer Christsakes, Knock it Off! Pt. 2

Just caught the highlights of Oprah’s confrontation with author, James Frey. I thought this story had run its course. Boy was I wrong! Why CNN dedicated a sizable block of time this A.M. to Oprah and Frey, I don’t know — it’s not like it’s a slow news day given some of the relevant events that have happened over the last couple of days. According to my trusted sources who’ve actually read the Frey memoir, the book is mediocre. Chances are that the book sales would have petered-out long ago had Oprah not endorsed it. Oprah scolding Frey and his publisher on national T.V. is such a joke. If Frey sinned, it was a minor and forgivable sin. Frey’s embellishments only pretained to himself. The publisher’s main responsibility was to insure that Frey didn’t commit libel. Since, by definition, a writer cannot libel himself, the publisher had a limited responsibility in this case. If anyone deserves scolding here, it’s the media for embellishing the importance of Frey’s embellishments. And while we’re at it, let’s blame Oprah for praising mediocre books that should have been remaindered to the dust bins long ago.

Will the Real Amari Hamadene Please Stand Up!

After many months of silence, plagiarist and charlatan, Amari Hamadene has sent me an email blasting my entry, “Somebody Hand Me a Shotgun, They’s a Fox in My Henhouse.” You can read Hamadene’s largely incoherent email message and my reply to it in The Last Word. However, I’d like to take issue with one thing Hamadene said, right here. Hamadene writes, “The poetry will never be online and you know it.”

Well, I beg to differ with Hamadene. While certainly it was true that, in the early days of the Internet, literary offerings were not top shelf — amateur hour at best — over the last several years, the literary scene has gone through many improvements. In other words, the poetry is definitely online!

Check out some recent offerings. How about Poems Niederngasse’s erotic issue. Maybe Stickman Review Or InPosse Review. The point is, there are hundreds of places publishing poetry online — quality poems.

As for Hamadene, we still don’t know who he is. Is he even Algerian? Maybe he’s Canadian. Maybe he’s a computer virus. Who the fuck knows? If the Hamadene incident teaches us one thing, it’s that, while the Internet can be a rich place for creativity and free thought, it is also a place where con artists lurk.