Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
Why am I so torn about this book?((actually, a compilation of posts from his "Whatever" blog, dating from 1998-2008) On the one hand, he's hilarious and smart and insightful. I got to meet him at C2E2 this year and he was very personable and sweet (although I have a feeling he would take exception to being called sweet. But then, I was like one of those manga girls with the stars for eyes. So there's that). I particularly like his posts on writing. I could never be a writer. I'm glad there are others who do it, and that Scalzi is willing to tell those who want to do it but really stink at it to just. Stop. It. I didn't particularly like how religious and political (although generally not at the same time) some of the posts got. I understand that the blog is Whatever comes into his mind, and that's the whole point of blogging. I'm really an apolitical person, but it seems a bit disingenuous to me to write a post about politics, condemning x or y for this or that, but then saying in another, "Heyyyyy, let's all do whatever we want." More like "Let's do what we want to do, and hang anyone who tries to stop us," which I think has been mankind's m.o. for a long time.Oh dear, rambling here. Wil Wheaton, in his introduction, praises Scalzi for taking on religion and politics in his blog when most people wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. And yes, it's perfectly fine that he does so. Heck, he has the right to do so, so why not? I just felt that those posts were rather repetitive, and so I ended up skimming them as I made my way through the book. The other thing you have to remember is that this is pre-Recession, Clinton-and-Bush-era stuff. Scalzi worked for AOL, for pete's sake. Do they even exist any more? It's kind of strange to try and apply some of his advice now, like how he wants all the ultra-rich to suffer from a massive economic depression (newsflash! Depressions don't just affect the mega-rich. It sucks for EVERYONE). However, I do highly recommend his piece written on Sept. 12, 2011. It's very quiet in its way, but moving and heartbreaking. Yes, I cried. I thought this was really funny. I love pointed, witty humor and many of the WHATEVER posts collected here are chock full of witticisms.Some of the entries are serious in tone - supporting gay marraige, advice for young writers (and the financial advice could be applied to everyone...note to self...) - and I appreciated those all the more due to the posts with surrounding levity.Two regrets. 1) would have loved to see more of the comments/hatemail, and 2) while I appreciated the thought behind the random nature of the order of collected posts, but I think I would have appreciated a more linear or topical organization (just my OCD nature).
What do You think about Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded (2008)?
Best book of shorts EVER! I now want to read everything he has written!
—laura
Entertaining, compilation of blog posts from his Whatever blog.
—Kami
I'm loving it.and I continued to love it.
—zaynab
Absolutely and deliciously quotable.
—krazytravelers
