Flatlander said:
I don't know. I read the article and I did not get this impression at all.
So it is not a fawning puff-piece, but it is far from the hit-job it is being portrayed as.
Yes it says Sanderson wears a jacket to look professorial. Real mud-slinger there.
Yes it does portray Sanderson as rather milk-toast and boring. I read that for what it is, not as a criticism. I'd much rather have an article characterize me as normal/boring than having a life akin to Johnny Depp. Look, here's a guy living a normal life, has very healthy family relationships, not a lot of drama in his life, still a regular guy despite all his success. How exactly is that being critical?
Yes it is critical of Sanderson's prose. But that is a criticism that I've heard from countless other critics over the years; it is hardly new. Sanderson is easily one of my favorite authors, and I can't really disagree on this point. But I don't care, and the article makes the point that most of Sanderson's fans don't care. The stories are so good without needing a bunch of fancy literary pinache.
He literally ****s on Sanderson for being a weirdo Mormon, his own actual ****ing words, and repeatedly slams him for being a bad writer but being able to bask in it and transcend even because of his money. His money and his fans which allows him to build up his godhead in boring and unsophisticated Utah.
This is an absolute hit piece that only an elitist from San Fran can write and say it is not. The amount of nitpicking is jaw dropping. He even managed to ***** at being shown the Greatest Showman while staying in Sandersons own home. His one real actual criticism is Sanderson's lack of prose. Ok, cool. That is an opinion but he never actually truly backs it up with real unbiased analysis. The dude was just crying about it nonstop. "Sanderson is soooo bad. Why do all these "pale, fleshy nerds" love him?!?!" (his own words again describing Sanderson fans, something I take umbrage with)
What an absolute cretin this jackoff is.
I am convinced we did not read the same article. Because it was pure cringe from start to finish. And yes, offensive and a hit piece. I cannot think of a better example of an unhinged hit piece that I have read in a long, long time.