Audry Lynch �Steinbeck Remembered�
I�m sure we�ve all had that horrifying moment when you discover that lame people like something that you would rather keep to yourself. Sometimes you get angry because, goddammit, you knew about them first!
Bands become popular, and while you want to wish them success, you resent seeing their shirts selling in Hot Topic for $25 dollars a pop.
Underground movies are discovered that nobody would take your recommendation seriously when it first came out, now become the public�s topic of water cooler conversation.
Quirky authors who were ignored for years suddenly become hot best sellers and you can�t find a used copy of their stuff anywhere.
See, with things like that it�s not that you resent the artists. In my case, I�m happy for them. It�s the newcomers that like them that I can�t stand. When you see an asshole with the suit and screaming children whose yelling in his cell phone at the counter while other people are trying to get past him and being a general pain in the ass, you don�t want him to compliment your Stiff Little Fingers shirt.
My reaction in these cases is usually Ewww. You and I have something in common? What I really want to do, however, is grab him by the shoulders and shake him, screaming, �You are not allowed to like the same things as I do! We are different people! I am cool, while you are a FUCKTARD ASSHOLE!�
Instead, I say �Thanks� and ring up his books. I�m so goddamn diplomatic.
I suppose I can�t get mad for other people liking Steinbeck, however. After all, he died before I was even born, so I certainly can�t use the �He was mine first� argument. But I watched people come in the store in droves after Oprah put East of Eden on her damn book club. When they came back, I asked them how they liked it.
They always gushed over it, talking about how beautiful it was.
Now, not to stereotype, but the only people who follow Oprah book club recommendations are broads. So the next question was obvious:
�Really,� I�d say, �I was wondering what the reaction would be to the book, as East of Eden has no redeeming or sympathetic female characters.�
�Oh,� they�d invariably say, �I wouldn�t say there were no redeeming female characters...�
�You think so? �Cause Cathy Ames has often been listed as the most evil, vicious female in American literature.�
�Really? Well, she was kind of mean...�
�Lady, you do know that I can tell that you didn�t read the book, yes? It�s okay, I�m not grading you.�
See, that�s what bugs me about popularity. People will latch on to a name without any understanding, or even any loyalty. They�re reading East of Eden, because Oprah ordered them to.
And then there are the old ladies who love Steinbeck. They love the humorous bits of Cannery Row, or they thought Travels With Charley was cute, but they aren�t interested in talking about the serious, brutal issues that came from the best books of Steinbeck, namely East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, and In Dubious Battle.
Of course, these same old ladies are usually rich old ladies, so they aren�t interested in all that depressing stuff about the poor.
This Audry Lynch person is one of these people. She actually lives near me in Sunnyvale, according to her author bio. Sunnyvale is as different to San Jose as I am to an old rich white lady. That�s okay. As I said, I don�t have first dibs on Steinbeck. Other people are allowed to like him.
But holy fuck, this is the second book this woman has written on Steinbeck by tracking down former friends and acquaintances, and the fact of the matter is that she�s a terrible writer. She�s a terrible interviewer as well, and this and her previous book offended my sensibilities as a writer, a journalist, and a fan of Steinbeck.
In fact, I think I need to use my reporter skills to track down this woman, grab her by the shoulders and shake, screaming, �You are not allowed to like the same things as I do! We are different people! I am cool, while you are a FUCKTARD ASSHOLE!�
Yeah. Fuck this diplomacy shit.
