( continues...) the Harry Potter books or any other YA books in….*gasp* PUBLIC. Especially if you are a "guy."
I am a proud reader of YA literature. And adult literature. And any other damned type of literature I want to read because it looks like a good story. You stated
“I’ll read “The Hunger Games” when I finish the previous 3,000 years of fiction written for adults.”
I’m not “too busy” reading these "3,000 years of fiction written for adults"; I’ve read most of them, loved many and thought other were complete tripe. And I’m not an outlier.
A little background, since there’s plenty of oh-so-amusing background on you, sir. I read up to fifteen books a week — of all genres. I’ve read everything from “The Hunger Games” (excellent world building and a genuinely mature and brutal imagining of a dystopian world not too far removed from our own present world) to Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” (excellent world building and a genuinely mature and brutal imagining of a dystopian world not too far removed from our own present world – and yes, Atwood’s prose is better than Colllins’, but Collins' writing is far from terrible.)
I’ve read many, many books from the last, oh, 6,000 years and I read critically, prolifically and, most importantly, I read based on the content of the story. “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro moved me to tears and to perform more research on the ethics of cloning. “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson also moved me to tears and – when I taught it in my freshman English class – lead to many critical, intellectual discussions of violence against women and the messages that the media promulgates to both men and women, young and old.
Oh, and by the by, the blurb on the spash page of Mr. Stein’s web site reads “In case you stumbled here by accident, I’m the guy who loves porn and hates America.” This statement does not instill confidence in your reading habits. I’m not an idiot (despite what you think of my YA reading habits.) I assume you are speaking tongue-in-cheek. Perhaps the porn you are referring to is “The Satyricon?” But if you haven’t read it in the original Latin, you’re missing many wonderful, hilarious political and cultural in-jokes. So sorry.
But since your (I assume self-penned) bio for the L.A. Times declares you are “desperate for attention,” I must take you at your word and assume your assertions are merely the literary version of “Look at me! Look at ME!” — much as a child shouts this at a parent as they perform some supposedly comedic act.
I looked at you. And sighed.
Excuse me — I must get back to any one of a number of the books I am reading right now: my fifth reading of Judith Thurman’s excellent biography of Colette, “Secrets of the Flesh,” the fourth Skulduggery Pleasant book by Derek Landy, my third re-read of “The Remains of the Day” by Kazuo Ishiguro and yes, my re-reading of “The Hunger Games.”
Perhaps Neil Gaiman (who writes YA and adult novels), Laurie Halse Anderson, Jay Asher, Ellen Hopkins or C.S. Lewis (oops, he’s dead, but I imagine his soul is enjoying a hearty belly-laugh at your expense from beyond the grave) can pen a more detailed rebuttal to your “Come out and play, idiot YA readers” call to action —ahem, attention — than I can.
Probably not. With the exception of Mr. Lewis, they are probably too busy writing best-selling, smart, savvy, well-written books you will never read to do so.
Maybe you can put the porn down for five minutes (and I have nothing against porn, just self-aggrandizing, self-important attention-seekers who don’t bother with actual research) and read some YA.
There’s a plethora of excellent YA books out there to read. Maybe you’ve got the cojones to do it in public.
I do. But then, I’m just a weak-minded, immature, not-too-intelligent person who reads YA because real books are just too darned hard for my little brain to wrap itself around.
According to you. Mr. Stein.
Thoughts, dear readers?