Writers are notoriously bad at taking criticism. It’s kind of funny, really, they can characterize someone else as “a blood-sucking vampire squid” in a national magazine like it’s no big thing, but suggest in good humor that this bit here is a little self-indulgent, maybe? And they might throw a steaming hot coffee in your face, if that is an option open to them. If it is not, they will likely attack with a cranky, mean retort that attacks you as a human being.*
This is what CBS legal analyst and Daily Politics contributor Andrew Cohen did yesterday to Lizzie Skurnick, after she wrote a pretty hilarious takedown of a piece he wrote about his ex-girlfriend on the same site. Here is an excerpt of the gloriously regrettable missive, which is one of the finest of the genre we’ve seen:
“The first time I read your piece I was upset. The second time I read it I realized you’ve spent the last 20 years or so looking (and failing, evidently) to find someone or something in a relationship. And the third time I read it I realized why that was. To spend so much time and energy and apparent relish being so bitter and judgmental about someone you don’t know and a relationship you know nothing about: How sad for you.”
The full thing, if you missed it, is at Jezebel.
*Unless they live every day with a Greek Chorus of nattering commenters under them at all times, in which case they are quite used to it.
See Also:
Cranky Times Reporter Lashes Out at Critical Bloggers
This Is What Happens If You Tell Matt Taibbi You Don’t Like His Work to His Face
At Least the New York Times Spelled My Name Right [Gawker]
Double X Blog Fails to Get One Crucial Fact Right [Comments Section]
