In case you missed it, celebrated author Joan Didion passed away this week at 87.
Breaking News: Joan Didion has died at age 87. Her sharp dispatches on California and tough, terse novels forged a distinct new voice in American writing. https://t.co/Y7Yiv18CS9 pic.twitter.com/flsrs0cChn
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 23, 2021
In memory of former National Review contributor Joan Didion, @NRO has assembled a retrospective of some of her most interesting work for the magazine: https://t.co/zY5SaF9CZW
— Jack Butler (@jackbutler4815) December 23, 2021
And be sure to read the one and only @NicXTempore's obituary of Joan Didion, the perfect union of author and subject: https://t.co/MH4USeQ2Iv
— Jack Butler (@jackbutler4815) December 23, 2021
There are certainly some valuable retrospectives on and tributes to Didion out there.
There also some that are decidedly less valuable.
everyone stuck inside when joan didion dies… there are going to be so many bad essays
— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) December 23, 2021
One of those “bad essays” — if you can really even call it an essay — is from the fine folks at Gawker:
https://twitter.com/Gawker/status/1474097135285161984
“Rest in Power, White Ladies.” Sarah Hagi writes:
On the eve of another pandemic Christmas Eve, I am holding space for my white sisters. Eve Babitz and Joan Didion, style icons for a particular sort of woman online, both died this week. I’m sorry, please know that I’m holding you all close as you post a lot of pieces of writing I am embarrassed to say I have never heard of. I understand this is your 9/11. That Babitz and Didion were really important to shaping your personalities, and whether you thought it was better to be hot or cool. I’ll never forget reading passages from their books in your Instagram stories. I wish I could pat you all on the head and say, “That’ll do, pig.”
That’s lovely stuff, isn’t it?
https://twitter.com/BeeBalthazar/status/1474318478572146695?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1474318478572146695%7Ctwgr%5Ehb_2_7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fwordpress%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Faction%3Deditpost%3D2108800
Only the hottest and classiest takes from Gawker.
Sometimes Gawker is just this meme https://t.co/kseA0WbIyA pic.twitter.com/c4JCj24o4R
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 24, 2021
Nothing’s more cool than desperately trying to seem cool.
— Blind Archer (@BlandArcher) December 24, 2021
Gawker and Sarah Hagi are, like, so cool. Because it’s only the coolest people who use someone’s death to take lazy swipes at white women.
"Racism is funny when WE do it"
— 🎅🏻jimtreacher.substack.com🎄 (@jtLOL) December 24, 2021
And only the coolest people brag about knowing nothing about the subjects they decide to write stupid Gawker pieces about.
Bragging about not having read Joan Didion is a weird thing for a writer to do. https://t.co/T6HiPO0op5
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) December 24, 2021
believe it or not you don't actually have to try to be funny all the time
— sarah maybe (@sarahazone) December 24, 2021
Was that Sarah Hagi trying to be funny? Because if so … yikes. Biiiiig yikes.
Why publish this?
— Tom Wilson (@mccavfefe) December 24, 2021
what's the point of this
— nailkit (@ColdSlaw99) December 24, 2021
Point? There is no point. Unless, of course, you call making an ass of yourself in public a point.
oh dear pic.twitter.com/Zt8fmyzwSj
— Bertha Dalziel (@BertDalziel) December 24, 2021
Guess that for some people, negative attention is a lot better than no attention at all. So congratulations to Sarah Hagi. Now we’ve got another name to attribute to Gawker’s brand of hot garbage.
not trying to pile on here, but I think Sarah Hagi is a really smart and funny writer, which is why this piece sort of baffles me. look, as a book nerd who never got over being An English Major, I get that we probably deserve some teasing. but this isn’t it.
— Kaitlin Ruiz (@Kaitlin_M_Ruiz) December 24, 2021
No, please don’t try to avoid piling on. A pile-on is definitely warranted here.
True sign of pure clickbait is that there's nobody this article is positively *for*; people less ignorant than Hagi about Didion won't like it and people equally ignorant would have no interest in reading it
— Oliver Burkeman (@oliverburkeman) December 24, 2021
This is an incredibly depressing way to eke out a living as a writer and, i honestly believe, an unnecessary one!
— Oliver Burkeman (@oliverburkeman) December 24, 2021
What makes this even more depressing is that Sarah Hagi apparently amuses herself by trying to piss people off. Schadenfreude is not without its perks and it can be entertaining, but what Hagi is doing is just plain sad.
Some people are just miserable I guess.
— Ron Wechsler (@RonWechsler) December 24, 2021
And clearly a lot of those miserable people work at Gawker. Gawker’s like a magnet for miserable people.
Badly written snark is the worst
— Adeline Dimond (@AdelineDimond) December 24, 2021
That's their specialty though. 😐
— Jocko (@JockoJonson) December 24, 2021
Yep.
this truly is so embarrassing… https://t.co/jFWHBQC80q
— sophia grace (@monseans) December 24, 2021
Shocked to hear that the website where cruel people write stupid things has published something cruel and stupid.https://t.co/2uiCkSg6aM
— Ben Sixsmith (@BDSixsmith) December 24, 2021
Everything I've read from the revived Gawker is just so miserable and filled with spite. Who thought this was something worth bringing back?
— Charlie Horwood (@charlieh1988) December 24, 2021
A lot of Gawker – past and present – is dedicated to giving a platform to small, bitter people to use the death of those with undisputed talent as an opportunity to take online cheap shots.
Seems uncontroversially contemptible. pic.twitter.com/uyhvzrHKfm
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 24, 2021
Sometimes Gawker puts out some really good stuff (despite itself) but, man, a lot of its content is just vile in a very straightforward way.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) December 24, 2021
Gawker’s offering on Joan Didion would definitely fall into the latter category.
Find a different career.
— Polkabecky (@polkabecky) December 24, 2021
Life was better without gawker
— dr string7 (@string710) December 24, 2021
Rest in shame, Gawker.
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