![]() I mean, sure, there are some ladies who have had a pretty good go at the whole 'writing thing,' but how could a woman ever capture my experience? And by 'my experience,' I mean my experience as a white man." They are the most widely read, the most celebrated, the most influential, and, if I'm going to be blunt, the most talented. Case in point: "Why only white men in this book? Simple: they're the most important ones. Others could say it's because some of them feel an "attack" on white male novelists who may be deeply flawed in multiple areas of their lives unrelated to their writing career is not a reason to downplay their genius or render them the subject of unfairly leveled social commentary. Why are some future, present and past MFA bros upset? Well, some could say many of them see themselves in Guy, and they did not give Schwartz permission to include their likeness in her work. I couldn't be more proud if she were my own uber-successful friend who could now afford to treat me to lunch. With my writer's education and perfected look of existential ennui, I devoured Schwartz's book within 48 hours, and immediately recognized how she not only managed to achieve a successful crossover from digital parody fame to published satirical humor you'd be proud to display on your bookshelf (in the "I actually read these" section, of course), but she also managed to anger a few MFA bros along the way. during college, and wrote my senior thesis on the paternal relationships between Ahab, Starbuck and Ishmael in Moby-Dick. I read my first Shakespearean play at age 9, studied theater and literature abroad in the U.K. Although I am sans a Masters degree in Fine Arts, white skin, male identity, and an impressively worn copy of a David Foster Wallace book, I can certainly hold my own in the "well-read" circles of the Western Canon fanbase. As a lover of some of these white male novelists, I also couldn't wait to see if I, too, would see myself in Guy. The literary greats he speaks of are all, of course, white male novelists.Īs a former English Literature major myself, I couldn't wait to see what Schwartz could do when she was not restricted to a character limit and the fickle nature of social media fandom. When not providing trenchant reviews full of derision and disdain at his fellow MFA candidates during class peer review sessions, Guy is busy waxing effusive about all the literary greats that have inspired him to pursue his degree, even though he's certain no degree program can truly appreciate the unadulterated talent that he possesses. You've probably seen me sitting on the quad, rolling my own cigarette, loose tobacco spilling into my worn copy of As She Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem." Or at least I would be happy if I didn't maintain an air of disaffected ironic detachment at all times. This would-be writing phenom is the voice of every most white male students pursuing a career in the written word who believe not only in their own inherent greatness, but in their inevitable rise to stardom, which would happen much faster if only the rest of the world would just stop being so superficial and other writers would stop being such sellouts.Īs a symbol of both demi-hipsterdom and respectable yuppie elites, Schwartz describes "Guy" in her short introduction from his own point-of-view: "I'm happy you're here. However, one need not be a MFA student to grasp the concept of Schwartz's persuasive nom-de-net. I've followed Dana Schwartz's parody Twitter account the inspiration for the book and the persona she adopts throughout, ever since she launched the idea in 2013 as a clever rebuke aimed at hipsters of the XY persuasion who often litter the creative writing MFA programs in universities across the U.S. So here I am, ready to give you a deep dive on this biting satire of literary heavyweights popular in Western circles because I know you were all waiting with bated breath. But remember what I said about being too splendid to be forgotten? ![]() However, the end-of-the-year chaos and the beginning-of-the-year whirlwind left me with little time to gather my two cents. ![]() I read Schwartz's book back in mid-November 2019 shortly after its release, and immediately wanted to share my thoughts. Such is the case for Dana Schwartz's new book The White Man's Guide to White Male Writers of the Western Canon. With that said, forgive me if I come bearing gifts of tales a bit too late to be trendy, but too splendid to be forgotten. Just too busy to sit behind a computer and tell you all about it. Not so busy as to not partake in the arts and culture scene that I adore. We're a month-and-a-half into the new year, and I've been busy as ever.
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