Dr ublood, One black does not stand for all blacks, one Jew does not stand for all, nor does one lesbian. These are characters, not types. Lighten up and enjoy yourself. If you don't you'll create an entire generation of eunuch novelists, and you'll be very unhappy indeed. Vive la difference!

DEW

"Daniel Evans" - or whoever you are - I would challenge your comment with specific passages from the book, but I'm pretty sure I threw it away after reading it.

Suffice to say that what I remember thinking when I read the book was "Does it HAVE to be the black guy who is the crack addict?" Or however you portrayed the black character...I can't remember which formula you followed. Maybe he was a pimp.

I don't believe being aware of and avoiding using stereotypes would castrate a novelist at all, and your analogy only illustrates that point.

Well, Dru, in this world some blacks are crack addicts. In this book you may recall that the black dealer made rather a fool of the white liberals with their apologetic taste for drugs. But no matter. What's your problem with a black crack addict? Where's the stereotype? One character is a crack addict. Are you so fragile that each character must be a representative of a group, and every unflattering characteristic universally demeaning? What are you afraid of? Might I ask if you are married, or have an enamorata? When you say unkind things about her are you damning one half of mankind?

What a terrible toll PC has wrought on your generation.

Oh Dru, apparently your imagination is destroyed by "PC". Unlike this author whose imagination is clearly superior. Yes. And it's our whole "generation" too. People like Toni Morrison to name one. Yep. We should all strive to lose our social and political consciousness and be more like this author. Think of what it would do for our literary world hey?

i don't remember very clearly, but weren't there also loud, argumentative "gypsies" - lazy, sloppy, eternally obsessed with eating fat women (in fact, as I recall, your book treated women with particular unkindness)...among other things.

I brought up the black crack addict as one example. I read this book so long ago, mr. author person, that the only recollection i have of it is an intense desire to spit on the person who wrote it. Not for the one example of racist stereotyping, but for a boring and unimaginative tendency on the part of the author to rely on stereotypes to describe most, if not all, of the characters in the book.

Who is the uncreative one, then? The author who chooses to rely on the pre-existing prejudices of his audience, or the audience who demands more from the author?

I felt the author of the book was lazy, if not outright racist/sexist/sizist. I don't owe you or anyone else any justification for that opinion, but you'd be wise to take it to heart if you are, in fact, the author of this book.

One last thing, Dru. Please assure me that you're kidding me about "sizist." That you think that a distinction between deportment appeals to prejudice. If you're not, please sign me up for "breadthist," for size measured horizontally. Also "folliclist," to distinguish types of hair, "honkerist," shapes of nose, "hallitosist," tones of breath. Definitely "breastist," because I have noticed differences in those (or am I not supposed to look?) Above all brand me "sad" that your politics is blinding you to the gorgeous but unfair and inelegant variety of life. I hope that someday you come out of it.

The Daniel Evan Weiss - author of these comments, presumably the author of the book as well, doesn't seem to be too interested in real discussion here. Just interested in picking a fight and trying to sound clever. Not very dignified.

I read the book when it first came out and I don't remember much of it (thankfully) except this: that I hated it. Hated it. I forced myself to finish it, too. I was a bookseller at the time and a couple of my coworkers were reading it and liked it, so I thought I needed to give it a chance.

Actually, after finishing that book, I put an end to my lifelong habit of finishing every book I start. Now, whenever I'm well into a book that I'm finding to be crappy, I put it down. Why should I waste my time, when I could be reading something better?

Possibly Mr. Weiss suffers from ism-phobia(DSM/ICD9234 Code 246.0. It's a socio-cultural affliction that occurs predominantly (although not exclusively) in populations who live in gated communities.

Fortunately for the rest of us, the vitality, creativity, drama, intensity, tragedy, horror, bliss, intellect, compassion, and general juicy artistic and sexual vervocity, continue to thrive without the enlightenment and participation of those imprisoned and untouched in their bubble of privelege.

We must have compassion. Or not.

i read that book. how about how he described the jewish people who lived in that apartment. that was pretty outrageos too. i know some jewish people, and they're not bad at all.

i read that book. how about how he described the jewish people who lived in that apartment. that was pretty outrageos too. i know some jewish people, and they're not bad at all.

What a coincidence, Oliver! you have the EXACT SAME IP address as the person who is claiming to be Daniel Evan Weiss.

I wonder if all of this spare time to post on a weblog means Mr. Weiss has writer's block. We can hope!

ok, 1st of all, i kno mr. weiss personally. ia m best friends with his daughter. he is a jerk, but NOT any type of 'ist'. also, those og u who are calling him anti-semitic, look at the name. WEISS! he's jewish, a-doy!