Melville House Books

I haven’t met Bill Ryan but I like his style. I mean, if I were Salman Rushdie‘s publicist, I’m sure it’d give me a little bit of dread and heartburn to know it’s likely this notorious guy was waiting to pounce on my author. A guy who ventures out to readings, stands in line with a book waiting to be signed, and then–at the magical moment of meeting a literary hero for the first time (that may be too strong a word for a few writers Ryan has staked out)–he asks the author not simply to inscribe his copy of their latest work with their signature but to do their worst in insulting him. And then he blogs about it at Insulted by Authors.

Bill explained his motivation to Carolyn Kellogg for Jacket Copy thusly:

Part of the fun is seeing how the authors react. It’s not fair to spring it on them, but there it is. It is fun. It’s like sneaking my way into a Presidential press conference and tossing a curveball in with all those softballs the reporters throw; or, maybe more like tossing a water balloon alongside the softballs. Not sure. I get the same smug or horrified looks from the people behind me in line as I’d likely get from the press pool for asking President Obama what his favorite ice cream is. People love looking down on effort and sincerity.

Some authors take it in stride, some love the idea, some hate it but grit their teeth, some roll their eyes, some love showing me how stupid the idea is (and by proxy, how stupid I am), some can’t deal with it and flat-out reject. It’s the last group who I can’t understand. I mean, it’s their prerogative; no one owes me a damn thing. But — really? You can’t play along?

Exactly. While a reading’s mood obviously depends on the subject matter, it’s still a form of entertainment. Seems like authors would do well to recognize that taking a bit of subversion of the convention at their expense in stride shows some grace and good humor.

At any rate, Bill’s successes are definitely worth the blog. Enjoy these images and then click on over to read insults and read reviews of events he’s been to.

David Mitchell took the time to illustrate his disgust with Bill:

Seems our own Tao Lin has made a bit of fun of Ryan as well:

And possibly the best one yet from the queen of hospitality, Amy Sedaris: