« New Year's Eve Eve Party | Main | Note the Disaster Relief Links at the top of the sidebar »
December 31, 2004
Maybe you'd prefer Peanut Butter, the Dressed Up Dog, instead.
What's the big deal with Anonymous Lawyer? Clearly, many blawgers think it's the best thing since Dippin' Dots, the Ice Cream of the Future (nothing is, by the way). Others, including Soupie, Larry and E. Spatulee have expressed their displeasure with all the accolades being showered on Jeremy Blachman after his unmasking as the Anonymous Lawyer.
Personally, before this week I probably only read AL two or three times since it burst into bloghood last March. It wasn't interesting to me. Neither was And What Thanks Do We Get which appears to have withered away. Interestingly, one of the last comments posted on AWT made oblique reference to Jeremy in a way that relates to this post as will become apparent later.[1]
Anyway, every so often I'd notice Evan trying to start a movement to get the AL a book deal or spending a lot of time deconstructing AL.[2] I never really bothered reading any of it until now because I just wasn't interested in AL. I got it, sure. Big Law hiring partner is a jerk who knows he's a jerk but he'll keep on being a jerk because he can be a jerk. I just didn't care and therefore didn't read AL. I don't want to work for Big Law and don't care what a fictional hiring partner thinks.
The problem with AL was that he confessed to his fictionality too soon and thus the punchline to the joke went on for way too long until people started to forget it was a joke. The satire was always clear, though. Whether it was good satire or not seems to be a point of contention. It appears to me that the Big Law and former Big Law blawgers, along with people who know Jeremy a lot better than I do, all loved Jeremy's treatment of Big Law while others weren't so hot on it.
If I put on my Justice Scalia robe and get out my dictionary (m-w.com) I discover that satire is "a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn" which seems to fit AL to a tee if you understand where he's coming from. The problem is, there's a sense out there among many law students and the public at large that partners at Big Law are exactly as presented in AL.
That's why I think for AL to really work it needed to be more over the top. The recent post about making the fat paralegal dress up as a piñata on Cinco de Mayo is a good example of what I'm talking about. There was a little bit of a human side that sometimes snuck into the AL's posts from time to time which also detracted from the satire.
Another issue arose today concerning the satirical quality of AL. David Giacalone got his haiku in a twist and accused unnamed readers of thinking that the author of AL condoned the actions of the fictional AL referring to them as "otherwise intelligent," and shaking his head sadly at the thought that young lawyers and law students need emoticons to help them understand what it all means.
E. Spatch didn't appear to be too happy with that remark and told him so, basically saying she didn't care, she just didn't find it funny. David misinterpreted her objections. You can read all about it.
I think it's pretty clear to anyone and everyone that AL was satire intended to denigrate the Big Law hiring partner, not condone his conduct. No emoticons necessary.
Finally, Evan took issue with what he perceived as personal attacks on Jeremy. There were some, for sure. Soup, soupra, wasn't too kind to Jeremy's writing and it came across as a personal attack on Jeremy. He also took a pretty good swipe at Crescat in the process (maybe Soup should revive Assprat Pretentia). I don't have any problem with Crescat although it does tend to get a little deep over there every once in awhile.
I've never been a huge fan of Jeremy's writing, although he was enjoyable to read when I first started reading blawgs way back when. Like with AL, I probably hadn't read Jeremy's Weblog more than a couple of times in the past year until this week. There was a point where I'd read one too many song parodies (There was a political blog I quit reading for the same reason about a year ago. The only song parodies I like are "Amish Paradise" and the one about Star Wars set to the tune of "American Pie") or seen one too many lists of things to do with Harvard where I just quick checking it.
Like Energy Spatula said,
I really liked Jeremy's Weblog, especially when he was a 1L and I think I could more relate to what he was saying. As he progressed in school and it became more about song parodies and stuff like that, I still read it, just not as often because it wasn't about anything I could relate to, and while I think he has written some things that are funny and articulate, the topics just didn't draw me in like they had before."
There was also the lack of paragraph breaks, which I did find maddening, although he seems to have gotten better about that. Sometimes it was like trying to read The Autumn of the Patriarch, and while that might be OK for Gabriel Garcia-Marquez after he'd established himself as a genius, it doesn't work for a blog.
I recognize that Jeremy is a very good writer and I wish him luck in his writing career. I also recognize that Thomas Mann is a very good writer. That doesn't mean I have to like Death in Venice or The Magic Mountain. It's just too bad that Jeremy had to go through three years of law school and spend an inordinate amount of time on AL in order to get that opportunity.
I do enjoy the nasty back and forth of blawgers during the holiday break. What else do we have to do?
[1]"I applaud you for "telling it like it is" and not writing fatuous song parodies, lists or other junk."
[2] The deconstruction post is quite good and gives an inadvertent clue to the identity of AL by noting that AL had an annoying way of writing big paragraphs without breaks.
Posted by Half-Cocked at December 31, 2004 12:02 AM
Comments
Hello, Halfster, I'm trying to keep up with the various personalities behind the student and newbie blawgs, but I'm still not sure who is who or who might have more than one weblog or penname. I just want to point out that, as Evan noted yesterday, there do appear to be folk out there who believe that by publishing Anonymous Lawyer the ethos of his managing partner is being condoned.
For example, Ms. Larry the Expat Texan wrote to Evan saying: " I think to publish AL as his tone is now (smug and self-congratulatory) is to legitimate poor partner treatment. Or, in other words, it sets forth as appropriate acting like a prick and treating others poorly."
I hope people aren't getting GEDs, much less JDs, without knowing about the purpose of satire.
Posted by: david giacalone at December 31, 2004 10:43 AM
Many thanks for this post, as I've wondered why JB's writing didn't click with me when it resonated with so many others. One sardonic post -- perhaps from 1L? -- talking about how Harvard law grads would end up running the country/world put such a bad taste in my mouth that I never went back.
Posted by: Shelley at December 31, 2004 11:39 AM
David --
Perhaps Larry is concerned with AL having the effect of legitimizing poor partner treatment in the minds of some, which it certainly could, despite its intent as satire.
And perhaps that's not what she's saying, but either way, don't let me get in the way of your being right.
P
Posted by: Mr. Poon at December 31, 2004 12:00 PM
David:
First, It's not that I think Jeremy Blachman is condoning poor treatment. It's that I think the character AL did, even though sometimes with resignation. I, like Steve here, also agree that it simply didn't go over the top enough. When I think of satire, I think of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," writing about eating babies as a solution to overpopulation, not a fictional hiring partner whose posts many people seemed to take at face value, despite the word "fictional" in the by-line. Sure, I get that Jeremy was doing satire. I just think he failed to do so very well.
Second, you imply that, like Jeremy, there might be more blawgers out there with multiple identities. Do you suggest this because Jeremy's project truly has made you suspicious of personas whose identify you cannot verify or simply because you can't believe that more that one or two real people disagree with your assessment of AL?
Third, don't you worry-- I graduated from high school or college without using even a modicum of intelligence or wit to get by. Thank goodness I have good looks to make up for my appalling lack of intellect. As for my JD, here at Jimmy Dean Sausage School of Law, I'm pretty sure our diplomas come in a colorful plastic ball dispensed from a 25¢ candy machine. I've been told they make an excellent food and/or fuel source post-graduation when one finds oneself homeless and living under a bridge. Wish me luck!
Posted by: "Ms. Larry the Expat Texan" at December 31, 2004 12:28 PM
This just illustrates why Larry is my hero.
Posted by: energy spatula at December 31, 2004 12:38 PM
David,
I take back what I wrote. I should have read the entire post instead of that snippet you cited.
You cited a snippet of Expat's writing for the point that "there do appear to be folk out there who believe that by publishing Anonymous Lawyer the ethos of his managing partner is being condoned".
Which is what I responded to.
Except I was in error. What I should have said is this:
Why don't you read what Expat wrote? It was an email written a month ago regarding the idea of giving AL a book deal. If you read the whole email, it's pretty clear that it's written with the assumption that AL is a real person.
So her comment wasn't written about a law student's satire; it was written about an a-hole lawyer telling the world about how much of an a-hole he was. In proper context, her comments make perfect sense: she felt that by giving this guy a book deal would be to approve of what he -- at the time thought to be dead serious about what he was writing, contra what we know now -- was proudly writing about.
I'd write some snarky comment about having to be able to understand time frames and context to have a GED and a JD, but I'm not an asshole.
Cheers,
P
Posted by: Mr. Poon at December 31, 2004 03:22 PM