Do you know what is actually a series of unfortunate events? The sexual misconduct that is going on in the entertainment industry.
But it’s taking over the book world too.
Not only has the author of 13 Reasons Why, Jay Asher, come under fire, but Maze Runner’s James Dashner as well as A Series of Unfortunate Events Lemony Snicket has as well.
Le sigh.
The 47-year-old writer, whose real name is Daniel Handler, is getting completely called out by female authors and librarians, for making inappropriate jokes.
“I don’t think you’re a monster, Mr. Handler,” wrote Roseanne Parry, author of Heart of a Shepherd. “I think you’re a person who is socially ill at ease who has chosen to cope by using the belittling humour and sarcasm that serves you well on the page but poorly in life.”
Daniel has since apologised, claiming that his humour has “not been for everyone.”
However it’s not the first time that he has made headlines for his inappropriateness.
Back in 2014, he was called out for making a racist joke while hosting the National Book Awards. African-American author Jacqueline Woodsen was at the time honoured with the National Book Award for young people’s literature for Brown Girl Dreaming, and Daniel said the following on stage:
“I told Jackie she was going to win, and I said that if she won, I would tell all of you something I learned about her this summer, which is that Jackie Woodson is allergic to watermelon. Just let that sink in your mind,” he said to the audience. “I said, ‘You have to put that in a book,’ and she said, ‘You put it in a book.’ And I said, ‘I’m only writing a book about a black girl who’s allergic to watermelon if I get a blurb from you, Cornel West, Toni Morrison and Barack Obama, saying, ‘This guy’s okay, this guy’s fine.'”
Wow.
At the time, he apologised for the ‘joke’.
“My job at last night’s National Book Awards #NBAwards was to shine a light on tremendous writers, including Jacqueline Woodson, and not to overshadow their achievements with my own ill-conceived attempts at humour. I clearly failed, and I’m sorry.”
“My remarks on Wednesday night at #NBAwards were monstrously inappropriate and yes, racist. It would be heartbreaking for the #NBAwards conversation to focus on my behaviour instead of great books. So can we do this?” he added. “Let’s donate to #WeNeedDiverseBooks to #CelebrateJackie. I’m in for $10,000, and matching your money for 24 hours up to $100,000. Brown Girl Dreaming is an amazing novel and we need more voices like Jacqueline Woodson.”
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