What Bitterness Can Do to a Person

I've honestly always thought of Stephen King as one of America's best writers. He's a lot of other things, too, admittedly, but he's also fantastic. It's a little bit of the fanboy coming out in me, but I think it's also the truth. He IS a great writer, a great weaver of tales, and really that's all I think that matters. That and being snide. Just kidding.

So it was with great pleasure that I read this guy's blog over at a place called YourHub.

Apparently, he met a very unenthusiastic Stephen King before a Rock Bottom Remainders gig - the band King was in, along with Dave Barry, Amy Tan, and Mitch Albom - and took offense to the author's demeanor, which was an aloof sort of unapproachable-ness.

Anyway, you can read the story at the above link, but I just wanted to talk a little about this subject. After I bash the guy a little more.

He's devoted his blog to 20 authors to read (other than Stephen King). Which is fine. Nobody said that everyone had to read the guy, but I don't think an opinion based on bitterness - the guy said he formerly worshipped King - has any value whatsoever. NONE.

So what, you meet a famous guy and he turns out to be uncool, so you bash him? What a gyp. I've met several famous people in my life - I have never paid 300 bucks to meet them, as this D.B. did, but that's another story for another time - and I'd say that 99 percent of them were unapproachable D.B.s as well. I kind of expect it as a matter of course, not as an exception to the rule.

The guy said that he also met Dave Barry and Mitch Albom and that Mitch Albom was a great guy. Well, I've got some news for you, my friends. Fred Toucher, former DJ for 99X, worked for Mitch Albom in Chicago and said HE was an asshole. Does that mean I should go out and burn all of Albom's books and create a "20 Authors Who Aren't Rude to their Employees" blog? No. Because that's childish. So what if Stephen King was rude to one guy? I've been rude to plenty of people and I'm not famous.

If you somehow think that being famous makes you responsible to bow down to the people who read your books, you shouldn't read this blog. I don't believe in that whatsoever. I like most everybody who reads JP and I like talking to them, but I also have bad days. I wouldn't want somebody to judge me on the basis of a single encounter. That's snotty-nosed, reprehensible solipsism at work, and it should be avoided.