This week I wrote something that got widely circulated among angry right-wing people on the internet, which caused my personal contact information to be published online, which allowed me to hear voicemails from many new friends. Let’s listen to a few.
In general being a writer is a great job. Every once in a while your turn comes around to be the Online Outrage of the Day, and you are flooded with hate mail, and usually (if you’re a guy) that is the end of it, although not always. I have always felt that if I want to reserve for myself the right to speak my mind, I must also accept that other people are allowed to speak their minds as well. That said, I prefer that they speak their minds in withering essay format, and also, if possible, confine their threats to the “you’ll never work in this town again!” variety, rather than some of these.
“How dare you threaten the Trump administration?”
“I’ll carve your ass up.”
“Violence is coming.”
“We’re watching you.”
“Just hope you sleep well tonight.”
The only one of these voicemails I really enjoyed came from a caller right here in New York City. You gotta love this one :)
Traditionally if you dislike a writer the thing to do is to say “I’m not going to buy your book.” Something to consider.