Joey Buttafuoco of Journalism

March 12, 2004 12:50 PM

"The problem with this book is not that Jayson Blair told lies at the Times, but that his lies continue in this book. The book is a collection of patently ridiculous made-up fakery, with sexual escapades and other stuff that smacks of total fabrication. They are as absurd as the bogus positive reviews that Jayson slapped on a couple of days ago," an Amazon reviewer writes. After a grotesque publicity tour, with fawning interviews by Katie, Larry, Bill and Chris, war breaks out among average readers. Meanwhile, a new plagiarism charge, about the book itself.
posted by Slagman (17 comments total)

One begins to admire the sheer audacity of the fellow.
posted by SealWyf at 1:03 PM on March 12, 2004

I guess it should be shelved in fiction. Pity the poor souls who buy a copy.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 1:05 PM on March 12, 2004

Please don't feed the trolls.
posted by divrsional at 1:14 PM on March 12, 2004

This One doesn't admire anything about Jayson Blair. He's a fraud, has gotten rich off of his fraud and hasn't learned a damned thing, hasn't changed his SOP and is likely going to have a flippin' movie about him and his pathetic little life.

Jayson Blair should be ignored. By everyone.

Otherwise, what's the message that his story sends to people? Lie, cheat and steal and you to can get a book deal!
posted by fenriq at 1:15 PM on March 12, 2004

I think that's pretty much the message. Yup.

And we wonder why we humans muck things up.
posted by moonbiter at 1:21 PM on March 12, 2004

I stole my copy!
posted by mr_roboto at 1:26 PM on March 12, 2004

It would be sheer genius if it weren't so pathological. I simply find the whole situation highly amusing. You have to admit it was pretty ballsy to write false stories for the freaking NY Times, but to then turn around and profit from such behavior is a stroke of genius and in some fractured way a reflection of how very effed up things can be here in the ole US of A.

Oh, and fenriq, people lie, cheat and steal everday for far less than a book deal.

on preview: Mr_roboto, you rule!
posted by shoepal at 1:32 PM on March 12, 2004

Slagman, there's always been a type of person, whom when he realizes that he can't achieve legitamite fame through the respect and admiration of his contemporaries, decides that infamy and notoriety is close enough.

Jayson Blair is a prime specimen.
posted by jonmc at 1:34 PM on March 12, 2004

I skimmed it at the bookstore. It would have been better with graphic sex scenes. Like everything.
posted by Slagman at 1:35 PM on March 12, 2004

What exactly is everyone expecting this guy to write now, when he's already known for no other reason than that he ripped off genuine journalists and made up what he couldn't steal?

Of course I thought the book's first sentence -- "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" -- was a bit of a tip-off. (kidding)
posted by clevershark at 1:43 PM on March 12, 2004

Oddly, Amazon won't let you sell a used copy, unlike most other new hardcover listings I've seen on the site.

I wonder if it's got anything to do with the Times buying an advance copy off the site and writing an embargo-beating story based on it.
posted by sacre_bleu at 1:57 PM on March 12, 2004

Who's this guy again? And why would I care about him?
/kidding
posted by FormlessOne at 2:28 PM on March 12, 2004

Hasten, Jayson, fetch the basin.
posted by jfuller at 3:45 PM on March 12, 2004

Mr Roboto is my new hero!
posted by fenriq at 4:59 PM on March 12, 2004

The trouble is that the author gets full royalties even for shoplifted copies. The bookstore's security failures aren't the publisher's problem.
posted by George_Spiggott at 5:35 PM on March 12, 2004

The only question I have is this:

Why did Slagman put the last "L" in "Bill" outside the A HREF tag? You can't do that sort of thing by accident. So what's it mean?
posted by five fresh fish at 7:52 PM on March 12, 2004

five fresh

It means, it means...uh. I need new contacts?
posted by Slagman at 8:14 PM on March 12, 2004