Thanks for casting your net broadly enough to catch these fish. Both from personal experience (as a late bloomer in the 60s) and as an older friend of the young DSAers I hung out with during the pandemic, I can imagine empathetically the wretchedness of the Incel. With apologies for any annoyance of smugness, what saved me then and what sustains my young friends now is the harbor of solidarity that creates a circle larger and more generous than the sexual marketplace. It doesn’t have to be leftist politics. It could be church or work. But in lieu of that it’s the antihuman or racist cult. No light in the darkness of these literary visions? Too bad!
Great read. Not sure Rude Boy character types are actually ignored by publishing "gatekeepers". I think they're just really hard to write both critically and sympathetically. A delicate balance that would require exceptional skill to achieve.
The Rude Boy audience though is pandered to regularly. Jordon Peterson's fulminating rants on the diminishment of AWMs (abused white men) are a pot of gold. Admirals, captains and marine drill sergeants appear on every best seller list ordering men to "make your bed" "respect authority" but "be authoritative". Militarism remains a perfect expression of maleness for millions. And every rude boy's salvation.
I've always thought we don't see more Teddy Wayne character types because they're so tough to write. Wayne's characters are deeply disturbed--borderline and over the line sociopaths. It's reasonable their paranoia and misogyny be criticized even if they're occasionally right about women using men. Wayne has a masterful touch. Another is Salinger. Our now beloved Holden Caulfield was the antithesis of American can-do and industry: lazy, bored and disaffected. A schmuck who became the poster boy for 50s discontent. Alas, it isn't easy to be a JD or a Teddy.
Creepy and sympathetic simultaneously--infuriating but deserving. That's a heavy lift. But I think books, TV and film would all like, no love to find a new James Dean, more Teddy Waynes and a few rebels without causes. It's the editor/agent/talent scout's dream come true. Entertainment for men that isn't a comic book. Strange new world.
Thanks for casting your net broadly enough to catch these fish. Both from personal experience (as a late bloomer in the 60s) and as an older friend of the young DSAers I hung out with during the pandemic, I can imagine empathetically the wretchedness of the Incel. With apologies for any annoyance of smugness, what saved me then and what sustains my young friends now is the harbor of solidarity that creates a circle larger and more generous than the sexual marketplace. It doesn’t have to be leftist politics. It could be church or work. But in lieu of that it’s the antihuman or racist cult. No light in the darkness of these literary visions? Too bad!
Great read. Not sure Rude Boy character types are actually ignored by publishing "gatekeepers". I think they're just really hard to write both critically and sympathetically. A delicate balance that would require exceptional skill to achieve.
The Rude Boy audience though is pandered to regularly. Jordon Peterson's fulminating rants on the diminishment of AWMs (abused white men) are a pot of gold. Admirals, captains and marine drill sergeants appear on every best seller list ordering men to "make your bed" "respect authority" but "be authoritative". Militarism remains a perfect expression of maleness for millions. And every rude boy's salvation.
I've always thought we don't see more Teddy Wayne character types because they're so tough to write. Wayne's characters are deeply disturbed--borderline and over the line sociopaths. It's reasonable their paranoia and misogyny be criticized even if they're occasionally right about women using men. Wayne has a masterful touch. Another is Salinger. Our now beloved Holden Caulfield was the antithesis of American can-do and industry: lazy, bored and disaffected. A schmuck who became the poster boy for 50s discontent. Alas, it isn't easy to be a JD or a Teddy.
Creepy and sympathetic simultaneously--infuriating but deserving. That's a heavy lift. But I think books, TV and film would all like, no love to find a new James Dean, more Teddy Waynes and a few rebels without causes. It's the editor/agent/talent scout's dream come true. Entertainment for men that isn't a comic book. Strange new world.
Look forward to checking out Incel.
Thank you for this wonderfully crafted review!
Am working on a longer response piece that expands into a general survey of the same issue in publishing.
Why do you think both these novels were publised under psuedonyms. Also curious how you came across them?
To Substack.
I'm right here.