An Open Letter to My Critics

Dear Everybody,

 

I hope you all had a safe, fun New Year’s Eve and a restful Jan. 1st.

 

Since I launched this website — http:JonFriedman.net — I have received numerous criticisms from readers. They are often mean-spirited and relentless. They have a need to rip me on the site.

 

You know what I say to them?

Fine. You’re just making me more famous.

I’m not quite sure why these folks feel a need to blast a complete stranger (me), with whom they have no connection. Are they shut-ins? Addled? On drugs? Maybe they just need a dog — or a hobby. I would recommend crossword puzzles, assuming they know how to read.

Before Penguin/Perigee published my book, “Forget About Today: Bob Dylan’s Genius for (Re)Invention, Shunning the Naysayers, and Creating a Personal Revolution,” my friends and associates warned me that Dylan’s fans could be vicious in their criticisms of my book.

Again, it’s fine. I believe in free speech — as long as people are civil.

People are allowed to be mean-spirited. They’re allowed to be foolish, petty and pathetic. (I always like how a lot of folks don’t have the guts to print their full names, and hide behind their wacky diatribes.)

This experience has showed me a little more clearly what Dylan and other public figures go through when they take chances in their work. When Dylan went electric, country, born gain and everything else, he faced a lot of flak from narrow-minded people.

I got a lot of flak from readers for my book, many of whom refused to accept my premise (that Dylan had lived such a rich, successful life that he could serve as a role model; that is, the “Forget About Today” readers can learn how to improve their lives. They insist on viewing life and work through the same lens as always — that is a songwriter, a recording artist, a performer — an entertainer — and nothing else. They have the right to be ignorant.

So, keep those letters coming, everyone. Say whatever you want. But remember to be civil. Show a little class.

JONFRIEDMAN.NET QUESTION OF THE DAY: If you ever wrote a book about Bob Dylan, what would you try to say about him?

Leave your comments — and be civil, or be gone.

 

 

 

 

01
Jan 2013
POSTED IN Notes

  • Ken

    Hi Jon – you’ve made a good point. It’s not easy to put yourself above the parapet. I’ve enjoyed your blog entries, and if people don’t like what you have to say, they should at the very least, as you say, be civil about it. I’ve written a book and maintain a blog myself (about music and other issues), and have been involved in campaigning, and I can empathise with you re the slings and arrows! Anyway, I hope you keep on keeping on. Best wishes. Ken

  • Virgil Kane

    He not busy being born is busy dieing. – That´s what my book would be all about, the key of everything Bob Dylan means to me. Thanks a lot for your stuff, I really enjoy reading it. Best regards from Germany!

  • Eric Wishart

    Interesting observations Jon …We’re all potential victims of the internet age, whether it be cyber bulling or inappropriate photos posted on Facebook, or unfiltered, anonymous hate comments aimed at some innocuous video you just posted on YouTube (which just happened to me), or a free for all against some author who dares to write about Bob Dylan in a way that doesn’t please certain people or conform to what we have come to expect as the norms of what has become an increasingly boring, repetitive cottage industry with its legion of self-proclaimed experts, one of whom – not you – has a prediliction for pretentious comments .

    Well, they weren’t obliged to read the book or the posts, so why get personal? But welcome to the Wild West of (anonymous) free expression on the Internet spiced by some would-be citizens journalists, when everybody thinks they can just write whatever comes to mind without the professional checks and balances of most media organizations,

    You tread on what is holy ground for some people, probably prompted by a mixture of ‘who does this guy think he is, how dare he talk about our ‘Bob”, mixed with some sense of resentment that they never ever got it together to write about Dylan themselves despite years of trekking from continent to continent catching his every utterance. My experiences of Dylan concerts in recent years have been often spoiled by these creepy, selfish ‘fans’ who rush to the stage at the start of each concert, blocking the views of people who have bought tickets in the stalls and were entitled to a decent close up view instead of having their experiences ruined by these Bob boors, who seem to think they have some special connection with him.

    As a 50 year veteran of listening to Dylan I can’t say I agreed with all you said, but at least the book had a different view point and the blogs and your ‘lists’ were a bit of summer fun. Am not sure you can compare yourself to Dylan at Newport and the subsequent battle he faced to get his music across, and I’m not sure you are quite in the Salman Rushdie league either.

    But the end of the day, and to quote something Dylan once replied when asked about how he dealt with the ire of his fans, – ”Life’s too short’ to bother about these things.

    ps real name

    • Jonathan Greene

      Spoiled by these”creepy fans”. maybe you’re the creep fan Eric. What a gross and stupid generalization. You know nothing about anyone who posts here.

  • David

    Liked your book. Do not take any notice of mean spirited comments. Keep on keeping on. We have a section of Bob Dylan fans who dont seem to like Bob Dylan either. ( at least Bob of today) Happy New Year.

  • Jeff Watson

    Bravo

  • Brent Clanton

    Bravo.
    And keep it up!

  • Duane Peters

    Famous? Are you serious? More like a running joke. Much of this blog to me is a mix of clums conclusions, personal memories, and hero worship disguised as commentary. Saw your book in a bookstore, flipped through it and saw no reason to buy it. That the man is a shapeshifter who reinvented himself many times isn’t news. As to your critics, dismiss them at your peril. I doubt they’re all as angry as you describe them. Perhaps they just don’t buy your premise. There is nothing revolutionary or controversial about your posts.

    You over exposed yourself and the vox populli responded in the negative. I wouldn’t outright dismiss them, they could be right.

  • Ghost Writer

    You nailed it Mr. Friedman!
    Now about that book….I would write a fictional trilogy about the Bob.

  • Esther P

    “They have the right to be ignorant”

    Isn’t that the purview of each of us..to accept or reject an author’s argument.

    I’d wager this inherent arrogance/condescending attitude/smugness might be the gasoline you pour on your blog that incites the Dylan-o-philes?

    To blog frequently and over hype a slim book is to invite criticism.

    I’d also wager that being so frequently on Expecting Rain didn’t help your cause.

    Now I’ll go on record as not having read your book but this blog, that I arrived at from ER, hasn’t convinced me its worth my $10.

    Critics need to have much thicker skin Jon and, consider this, there’s always the possibility that their central thesis is just plain wrong.

    And that’s something that won’t autocorrect by having your frieds post positive reviews.

    Even on Amazon your recption is mixed.

    Ignorant?

    Hardly. We may know as much if not more about Bob than you do.

    • Nichole

      Ignorant is the wrong word… Arrogant describes most of you instead. Karl Erik posted the links from ER. And please stop telling the world you’re from there. You’re just proving my point that lots of members there are just arrogant know it alls.

      • Esther P

        Are you the blog policewoman? You’re entitled to your own opinions, so am I. Expecting Rain is where I encountered JF. Too bad if you don’t like that. Time to stop trying to moderate Nichole.

  • Canadian Bob-o-file

    I enjoy your book and urge you to pay no mind to the negativity. I find it to be a worthy inclusion into the dialogue of all things Bob. Bob is like a river. People tend to see only as deep as they allow themselves. Bob is one of those “things” that everyone seems to think they know. Reading old reviews of his past albums in magazines like Rolling Stone also reveals that, for whatever reason, Bob Dylan has had more stupid things written about him and his work than anyone this side of abstract art (Jackson Pollock? Or take your pick) Sometimes, like Bob, people do grow and change their minds about things. What was once belittled and disliked becomes — in a different life circumstance — beautiful and profound.
    Bob is great and his fans are great too. (Smugness is a character flaw that most eventually grow out of) The intensity of Bob’s fans is an indication as to just how deeply he is a part of their lives.

  • http://www.facebook.com/angelina.davis.397 Angelina Davis

    I’m amazed how many people are angry with Dylan on the Dylan sites.
    I think some folks have a positive attitude and some thrive on negative energy.
    I guess Bob stirs it all up with his music, you’re never quite sure whether he’s a cynic
    or just trying to point out the faults of being a cynic.
    These days as in all things, the center point of view is lost and the radicals for and against is what makes the scene. If i were to write a book on Bob, it would probably
    be done under a false name, it would most likely seem like fiction, but I would believe in it, as if it were the truth. And really, what is reality anyway?

    I don’t really know why everyone needs to read a book on Dylan, he’s meant to be experienced through his art.

  • Adrian Everitt

    Maybe it’s the irritating way you plug your own book at every opportunity. That’s certainly why I crossed it off my shopping list. (And entirely unnecessary for you to do so in the first place. All you had to do was to write your blog and keep the image of the book in the top corner: it would have promoted itself.)

    And famous? Psst! Jon – it’s just a little blog! Hey, even the title of this post is pretty ridiculously self-aggrandising.

    Sure, folks should be civil, and your blog is sometimes thoughtful and thought-provoking, and worthy of polite, considered response. But you shouldn’t underestimate the negative effect of such relentless self-promotion. Get over yourself!

    • Nichole

      And you keep coming back here to post after you have crossed it off of your list…. as if you have nothing else better to do with your time…

      • Adrian Everitt

        I crossed his book off my list, not this blog. I said the blog has interesting things, thought-provoking and worthy of response. Your nit-picking selectively ignored that, of course.

        My point is that Jon over-promotes himself and his book. I think it’s true and counter-productive – and unnecessary. And I think it’s probably why some readers get pissed off and are rude in their comments – not an excuse, but a reason all the same. He can take it or leave it, as he sees fit.

  • Keith Harrison

    Doesn’t the subtitle of your book included the phrase “shunning the naysayers”? Instead of doing that yourself, you seem to be letting them drive you to distraction. I, like others here, have not bought your book, and I won’t be doing so in the future, simply because the blog posts I’ve read here (via ER links) just haven’t seemed to be very original. Neither does the concept of your book. But I give you props for writing the thing, and getting it published. In a world with 10,000 Dylan books, though, you can’t expect every Dylan fan to be wildly enthused about your addition to the Bob bookshelf. Some folks may indeed have been mean or too harsh, but others simply have commented that they aren’t that impressed. Yet your response, posted above, is to wonder if the mean folks are shut-ins or druggies. That’s a bit snarky as well, wouldn’t you say? Honestly, the tone of today’s blog entry makes it sound like it was written by a jilted high school freshman. If you’re going to try to make money selling a book, you’re going to have to develop a much thicker skin.

    • Nichole

      He’s surely talking about the repeat posters who loathe him and his book but continue to slam him personally. I highly doubt he means people who dislike the book and said it with class.

      • Keith Harrison

        While it’s sweet, I guess, that Jon has a (quite busy) defender here, I’m afraid you’ve missed or ignored my main point: He subtitled his book “shunning the naysayers,” and yet he can’t stop whining about his own. And again: It doesn’t matter how frustrated he is, there’s really no excuse for the alternately whiny and vindictive tone of today’s blog post. If you publish a book, and then hawk it pretty steadily in a blog, you simply have to develop thicker skin.

      • Esther P

        Do you work for Penguin? Its wrong to make any assumptions about anyone who posts here and what they may or may not think of Dylan. I doubt Bob cares nor should you. Obviously Jon Friedman has a knack of riling the natives. There are consequences that stem from that. While it may violate your sensibilities, he’s brought in on himself. After all, we’re all “shut ins” “drug addled” etc

  • rod

    How could you possibly think that people who think your book and observations are lame are “addled” or “on drugs”? This is pandering and insulting. And you think you’re “famous”? OMG, deluded said the Joker to the Thief. And you hold yourself up as civil?

    And then you whine that Dylan disappoints you. I doubt you’re building a fan base. No million dollar contract from Penguin waiting for you.

    • Nichole

      But when you hero calls people who study his work “Pussies and Wussies” you all hail him as genius and find it hilarious… That’s childish, that’s rude, that’s uncalled for… period end of story. Fame doesn’t give a person a free pass to be a jerk.

      • Nichole

        that should say *your*

      • Esther P

        Your hero. Dylan is not my hero. I respect him as an artist (not his entire recorded output) not as the life guru JF would like us to see him as. Maybe what’s uncalled for is your judgements since you don’t appear to like anyone else’s.

    • http://ageofsand.com/ Bud Parr

      I think Jon was referring specifically to people who post here repeatedly with the same tone, but using aliases, “rod.” What a coincidence it is that “rod” “Jonathan Greene” “Lauren Fisher” “Max” and others all have the exact same IP address, meaning, at best, that they all live in the exact same vicinity. So many haters so close together.

  • Reidar I.

    Are these comments from Dylan-fans ??????
    Keep on Jon and a happy new year.

    • Tom Higgins

      As a matter of fact, they are. Dylan fans run the spectrum and all have their favorite periods. Not everyone believes Tempest is the flt out work of genius JF does, certainly I don’t. What I object to, as many others do, is the relentless hawking of the book which I bought used and is as big a disappointment as many here have suggested. Jon’s tone on this post is way out of line and tone deaf if you ask me. It seems to posit that those who dont agree with him are losers, I’d suggest exactly the opposite.

  • Rob Rasmussen

    Why would there need to be another book about Dylan? Of the hundreds published, there has been documentation and speculation about every aspect of the man, so it begs the question why write one? Clearly, many who post here do not feel positively about the one you wrote nor your relentless pushing of it at every opportunity. And this post with its characterization of anyone who disagrees with you as a “shut in” “addled” and “needing a pet” is about the most pathetic response Ive ever read from an alleged journalist. Clearly, many have savaged you here but your response is also inexcusable.
    This is the public whom you want to purchase your book. Safe to say, you’ve probably killed more sales than encouraged them. And your take on Dylan? Quite out of touch for someone who is such an avid fan. Im not sure what you do next. Best to probably lie low. AT this juncture, you’re anything but “famous”. You’re actually more like a magnetic for vitriol. And no this doesn’t necessary come with the Fifth Estate. Its something YOU brought upon yourself.

    • jonfriedman

      What the heck is the Fifth Estate???

      Did I miss one?

  • Samantha Pirera

    Perhaps the “shut in” is you Mr. Friedman. You’re earning a reputation that’s almost as undesirable as that attached to Michael Wolff, only there’s nothing sensationalist about what you write. Its more pedantic. I’d like to discuss Legends and the myths attached to them but the snarky voice in your post just turned me off. Famous for 15 minutes? Actually, no. Not famous at all is more like it.

    • jonfriedman

      Gee whiz, Samantha — can’t I be at least almost famous???

  • Jonathan Greene

    This post underscores the massive #FAIL of Jon Friedman as a blogger, a critic and a journalist. Turning on people who disagree with your book’s central theme is hardly their deficiency. The truth is that you are the one who is woefully deficient and hiding behind a 71 year old artist does not ennoble you in the least. Think about how you’ve earned the ire of so many instead of just blaming. You are the one who needs a “pet” or a “hobby” because clearly you’re lacking in basic communication skills and common courtesy. People in glass houses…

  • Jonathan Greene

    BTW,”this experience has showed me what public figures go through when they take chances in their work.” That’s the biggest farce of all…do you actually consider yourself an artist? A public figure? This is too absurd for words. Let us hope this experience has taught you that self absorption and aggrandizement and ego does not an intellectual or artist make. Perhaps just a boor.

  • Richard O’Toole

    Coffee with Friedman..Jeez, looks like this last post pushed all the ill will and nonbelievers over the top. Doesn’t Penguin have people who can counsel authors on this? You didn’t do them or yourself any favors by lighting yourself on fire wrapped in a superiority attitude. While I think your book is rubbish, I deign to draw the line at personally attacking you, too much like clubbing a seal for my taste. Looking over this blog stream too much of nothing about “i” and not enough perspective and compelling content on the man in question. The longer this stream goes on the quicker your book will tank. The internet is a killer for these things. This isn’t fame Jon, its infamy mixed with shame. Not all the tea and marmite I might be able to muster could undo your bluster. Drug addled?

    • jonfriedman

      I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about — honestly — but please don’t club any seals on my behalf, mate.

  • Stu Eccles

    #FAIL. Love that hashtag as commentary. I thought that post this morning with this tag that someone uploaded says it all. You failed as a journalist, a critic, and a blogger and on a topic as large and open to interpretation as Dylan that’s a huge rotten tomato. Have the courage not to delete this one as well. Its your true color on this post as so many others corroborate. And the sad thing is , with some skill and diplomacy, none of this needed to have happen. But please don’t group your self as now “understanding what artists (sic) go theough when taking chances with their work”. You did nothing of the sort.

    • jonfriedman

      Tell you what: I won’t delete your post, Stu, if you will promise all of us that you will learn how to write (or type) in proper English. Is it a deal? I counted three goofs in your brief post. But I may have missed another one or two. Keep those letters coming.

  • Jonathan Greene

    #FAIL. That says it all.