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I'm a recent reader of Whatever, Scalzi's blog, and I've enjoyed reading his posts over there, so I picked up this book. I'd hoped there would be some more commentary in line with the title--a point-by-point dissection of hate mail addressed to him--but it's actually a collection of previously published blog entries, most of which I hadn't read before.
My reaction is mixed. I enjoy his writing style and find his prose fairly accessible, if a bit wordy. His tone is sometimes self-congratulatory, which annoyed me. He's a very successful writer, and deserves a bit of ego, but given that I actually agree with his political positions and most of his writing positions, and I found him a bit over-the-top at times, I can't imagine the anger his tone incites in people who disagree with him.
He's witty and has a tendency toward the absurd that I can appreciate because I find it lacking in my own writing, but occasionally it's just too much (a post devoted entirely to the trials and tribulations of cereal box characters? Really?) On the other hand, some of his posts (his post commemorating 9/11, on the death of Christopher Robin, on poverty, on the Surrendered Wife movement) struck me hard. He's capable of an emotional depth and resonance I hope to find in my own writing someday... and I found myself disappointed that the entire book didn't get that kind of intense response from me.
I'll remember this book, and I'll probably reread some of the posts in it, but not the entire thing. 0765327112 You're probably not going to like the same pieces I do here, just because they cover such a broad range of topics. This does demonstrate nicely why I read Whatever and why I read Scalzi's fiction. I like his voice, his sense of humor, his pragmatism, and his occasional scathing tone. He writes much like the Spouse, I think, whose writing I'm very fond of. Although the much-touted love of Journey is points-off.
My favorite bits: why some Christians should be called Leviticans, why every political party affiliation is annoying, on the joys of marriage, on poverty, on the Creationism museum. The ones written on 9/11 and the Iraqi war don't hold up as well. But still, I have to love a guy who blithely acknowledges that while he has some very small measure of celebrity, it is less than his cat Ghlaghghee enjoys.
A good book to keep around, because there's something to delight and annoy everyone in here.
***
26 February 2020
I am curious to see how well the prediction of gay president holds up. 0765327112 I expected a lot from this book. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have never read John Scalzi's blog before this book.
I was warned in the foreword, but the lack a theme to the arrangement of the posts in this book was a little jarring. The posts included in this book seemed to revolve Scalzi's random musings on various subjects such as:
* American Politics: These were mostly thoughts about Clinton, Bush and Gore. Non-Americans like me may find these a bit dull. There were also a few posts about various political factions in the Unites States and how Scalzi feels an equal amount of disdain for them.
* Parenting: This was mostly Scalzi talking about how great it is to be a dad and the parenting style he adopts with his daughter, Athena. After the first essay, I understood that Athena is a very intelligent child with a very cool childhood because her parents are great (and not assholes). Other parents may find this interesting, but parenting theories usually bore me. It is worth a mention that it is obvious that he idolizes his wife as an ideal strong, beautiful woman but he went on about that a bit too much during the course of the book for my taste. Perhaps these posts stretched out over a longer period negate this problem.
* Writing Tips for Writers: Maybe I have read too many books on writing (something I would never consider true otherwise) but most of Scalzi's advice for writers seemed more of the same. Perhaps new writers would find this interesting in a writing book on its own. In a few posts, the look how successful I am theme wore thin. Additionally, I am not sure marry someone who is successful at a stable job is valid advice for writers, but what do I know.
* Financial Management Tips for Writers: This was another series of posts that seemed fairly obvious to me and I have no idea whether Scalzi's claims about most writers being terrible about money is true or not. While it was great to find out roughly how well Szalzi has been doing financially, how much his mortgage is, etc., I was a bit bored here as well. Again, this would probably have been better in a short book about writing and the business of writing.
Aside from these, there were some interesting bits about women's sanitary products, clones (my favorite), Muppets and other topics of the day. I found these miscellaneous posts more entertaining that the categories listed above. As a result, I tolerated most of this book and only enjoyed a small subset of the content, which is why I would give this book a 3/5. At least it's well written! 0765327112 I've seen Scalzi at a convention, he was the most consistently entertaining panelist at any convention I've been to.
I've read most of Scalzi's books. They are not high art, but they can be quite entertaining.
I've read the occasional blog entry from Scalzi, but maybe a few every couple of years.
This book was interesting but kind of a slog. It was also kind of a time capsule, a memory of what things were like a little while ago. Of things that I found important at the time. As I was already aware, Trump puts George W Bush in perspective. Covid-19 and the Trump Republicans puts a lot of things in perspective.
This book also captures a bunch on writing and being poor and parenting. Generally items worth noting, but nothing I'll be generally quoting.
Still I'm glad I read this, but I won't re-read it. 0765327112 I really like John Scalzi as a blogger—his recent post on the big Amazon Fail had me in stitches—but I don’t think his blog posts work as a book, or at least they don’t as they’re arranged here. The decision to put the posts in a random order means that there’s never any sense of progression to his thoughts; too many posts on the same topics are included; and his frequent, mildly condescending posts on How to Be a Successful Writer and Lead a Successful Life made me feel shitty. Obviously, it’s not Scalzi’s job to make me feel good or even to not make me feel shitty, but “writing” advice like “marry someone more successful than you” is really not helpful to me right now, and not something I want to read in a book of humorous essays. Also, I get that writing is a job and should be treated as such, but man does Scalzi make it sound like such a drag.
I think Scalzi’s scathing sense of humor—which I enjoy—may be better taken in small doses than absorbed all at once like this. 0765327112
An entertaining, thoughtful, amusing and altogether random sampling of blog entries from John Scalzi's Whatever. While a lot of the blog posts(especially the Dubya entries) now lack the punch they had when they were relevant, many of the others are on topics timeless enough (author advice, notes on fatherhood, why The Final Countdown was the worst hair-metal song ever) that they're still worth the read. Of course, since the book isn't arranged topically, you never know what you're going to get. It would make as much sense to open it up at a random page each time you sit down with it as it would to read it cover-to-cover. 0765327112 A collection of blogerity (shut up, I can make up words in my own reviews) well worth reading.
Best Cheese of the Millenium (12/27/99) is my absolute favorite piece in this book. It made me laugh so hard I woke my daughter who was sleeping upstairs! Of course several other essays were funny, too. But don't think this is an entirely humorous book.
Some bits were deeply touching. Personal stories and even reflections on certain news items stirred empathy and were illuminating.
Some were, well, political ranting. (Not that I disagree with many of Mr. Scalzi's political viewpoints - I just can't be arsed to consider the political sphere for too long or my head explodes like some sort of overstuffed hot pocket that's been microwaved about five minutes past the recommended heating time.)
All were well-written and full of scintillating bon mots. Even worse: I learned things. I'm terribly afraid I must now spend several days reading through the archives of http://whatever.scalzi.com/
Don't wait up. 0765327112 I had a little trouble with the format of this book at first, but then I grew to really appreciate it. Most of the essays/blogs are like 3 pages long, and, during this really busy period of my life, it was great to pick up the book I'm reading after 2 days and not feel completely out of the loop.
I found a lot of wisdom in this book. He gave credence to a lot of things that I think about that just sound too crabby to most people. I now have a line that I will use on the Haters: My Jesus forgives your Hater Jesus! Also: I'm too busy to worry about aging and death! and If you are able bodied and have been educated, you are barred from whining about anything! Ha!
Really enjoyed this book! An author with a lot of good things to say. 0765327112 A collection of blog posts from John Scalzi which is open, conversational and both entertaining and thought provoking. His writing is designed to provoke discussion and encourage people to adapt their mindset. 0765327112 Back in 1998, sci-fi author John Scalzi started up a blog, long before anyone knew what the hell a blog was. Aptly named Whatever, Scalzi's blog was a forum for him to write about anything, from politics to movies to feminine hygiene products to personal finances to, well, whatever... Still going strong (check his latest on www.whatever.scalzi.com), Scalzi's witty little essays have garnered praise and ire from a steadily-growing fanbase, and some of his most memorable entries have been published in Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded. Scalzi's writing reminds me a little of early Harlan Ellison (one of my favorite writers of all time), minus some of the bitterness and angst. (Scalzi is, unlike Ellison, NOT a short Jewish kid from Cleveland, thank God...) He definitely doesn't hide his political leanings (left-leaning libertarian...) nor does he pull his punches when he rips new assholes on people he can't stand (fundamentalist Christians, homophobes, the Bush Administration, George Lucas, etc.). The book was a 2009 Hugo Award winner, by the way. 0765327112
On September 13, 1998, John Scalzi sat down in front of his computer to write the first entry in his blog Whatever--and changed the history of the Internet as we know it today.
What, you're not swallowing that one? Okay, fine: He started writing Whatever and amused about 15 people that first day. If that many. But he kept at it, for ten years and running. Now 40,000 people drop by on a daily basis to see what he's got to say.
About what? Well, about whatever: Politics, writing, family, war, popular culture and cats (especially with bacon on them). Sometimes he's funny. Sometimes he's serious (mostly he's sarcastic). Sometimes people agree with him. Sometimes they send him hate mail, which he grades on originality and sends back. Along the way, Scalzi's become a best-selling, award-winning author, a father, and a geek celebrity. But no matter what, there's always another Whatever post to amuse and/or enrage his readers.
Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded collects some of the best and most popular Whatever entries from the first ten years of the blog - a decade of Whatever, presented in delightfully random form, just as it should be.
* Winner of the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book
* Introduction by Star Trek actor Wil Wheaton
Old Man's War Series
#1 Old Man's War
#2 The Ghost Brigades
#3 The Last Colony
#4 Zoe's Tale
#5 The Human Division
#6 The End of All Things
Short fiction: After the Coup
Other Tor Books
The Android's Dream
Agent to the Stars
Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded
Fuzzy Nation
Redshirts
Lock In
The Collapsing Empire (forthcoming) Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded