In the New York Times, Timothy Egan has lashed out against “Joe the Plumber” for writing a book:
The unlicensed pipe fitter known as Joe the Plumber is out with a book this month, just as the last seconds on his 15 minutes are slipping away. I have a question for Joe: Do you want me to fix your leaky toilet?
How clichéd can you get? A professional writer is complaining about an amateur intruding into his profession.
Now I could tear into Egan for snobbery. But others have done that, and quite well. So please do read the responses in the Say Anything Blog, and Tim Blair’s blog.
But I feel one aspect of the column needs to be examined. Why gripe about Joe specifically? When vapid celebrities like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are published authors, why single out Joe?
Writing is hard, even for the best wordsmiths. Ernest Hemingway said the most frightening thing he ever encountered was “a blank sheet of paper.” And Winston Churchill called the act of writing a book “a horrible, exhaustive struggle, like a long bout of painful illness.”
True, maybe Joe should let a professional writer do most of the hard work of putting his ideas into text for him. I mean, I can unclog a toilet, but for matters more serious I do look for a more skilled individual. It’s quite common in the book trade for notable figures to have their books co-authored by a professional writer. They have a wordsmith lend his or her talents to aid in telling their story.
But, oh wait, that’s exactly what Joe has done! A quick search on Amazon
I’m going out on a limb and assuming that Egan knows that Joe has a professional co-author, or at least suspected as much from the beginning.
So the whole argument about leaving writing to the professionals is a disingenuous one.
Egan has a similar pre-emptive strike against a possible book deal for Sarah Palin.
Next up may be Sarah Palin, who is said to be worth nearly $7 million if she can place her thoughts between covers. Publishers: with all the grim news of layoffs and staff cuts at the venerable houses of American letters, can we set some ground rules for these hard times? Anyone who abuses the English language on such a regular basis should not be paid to put words in print.
Actually Mr. Egan there are ground rules. Publishers publish books that are expected to sell, especially ones that are likely sell in large quantities. It’s standards like that that help keep publishers in business and their employees on the job and paid.
But I’m sure you know that.
No, Mr. Egan, your attack is really about politics. You don’t care for the man’s gall to question Barack Obama, or the fame he received for delivering a critical shot far better than the press or the McCain campaign did.
And all he did was ask a question about policy, and state a concern about that policy. To his credit, Obama simply answered the question, and stated his case. True, it was an exchange that reminded free market advocates why they would fear Obama’s election, but that falls on Obama’s head not Joe’s.
Maybe you ought to follow Obama’s example and simply discuss the issues with people no matter their class or station, instead of joining those who have sought to investigate and belittle the man for the crime of expressing himself.
Joe, a k a Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, was no good as a citizen, having failed to pay his full share of taxes
Mr. Egan, I feel you have failed the “good citizen” test yourself. You clearly do not understand the concept of freedom of speech, or the benefits of it.
Mind you, I am reading between the lines. So please Mr. Egan, if you happen to deign to read this amateur’s blog, with all it’s grammatical sins, please tell me I’m wrong.