Monday, July 13, 2009

Jeff VanderMeer's Zany Blog Action

Jeff VanderMeer famous author of blah-blah-blah and husband of editor Ann VanderMeer plays host to a blog which is currently housing a rather heated (and longwinded) debate about the genre/literary divide, which was originally sparked by something somewhat inflamtory J.M. McDermott said.

In a more recent post, Jeff has quoted me alongside Hal Duncan, Nick Mamatas, Scott Bakker, and others. The quote being:
"G. Arthur Brown:
the only people who allow themselves to be challenged are those who are seeking new insights, new perspectives, new IDEAS. A ‘liberal’ thinker. The truly liberal thinker is also very rare. Because we aren’t just talking about the mind that would read Updike in contrast to the reactionary Bush supporter. We are talking about the mind who would read also the Turner Diaries and would still have no fear that they would poisoned by harmful IDEAS. An exceptionally rare sort of mind that doesn’t mind going outside of the box to make its decisions about reading or anything else."

It was originally a response to an allegation by Canadian fantasy author Scott Bakker that too many brilliant authors spend all their time preaching to the choir rather than taking their message to those it might challenge.

Get involved in the debate. Or check out Jeff's blog. Or buy his damn books.

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