Neil Gaiman has been in the news an awful lot the past year or so due to several sexual assault allegations. I've only been loosely following the situation, but things sound extremely dire at this time.
Apparently, there is a very graphic article published on the Vulture titled, "There Is No Safe Word", that details the nitty gritty of the sexual assault allegations surrounding Neil Gaiman. I haven't read the Vulture article as I am not sure I want to read about the detailed atrocities if they're as graphic as I've heard from various sources.
I am not a fan of Neil Gaiman's work. I've read and reviewed three of his works here on my blog prior to learning about Gaiman's sexual allegations. I realize Neil Gaiman has (or has had) a HUGE fan base and following, but I was less then impressed with his writing. I personally decided not to read anymore of his novels based solely on the fact that his writing isn't for me.
But this post isn't really about how I feel about Neil Gaiman's literary body of work. His writing at some level has really resonated with many people, whom have loved his work over the years.
The real question or questions I suppose is how does one separate Neil Gaiman's writing genius and literary body of work from the man who has sexual allegations? Or do we, the reading public/world at large, make no distinction between the writer and the man accused of sexual allegations?
I'm not saying that one should condone or overlook bad behavior, if in fact the sexual allegations against Neil Gaiman are true. If the sexual allegations are proven true in a court of law, does this sour one's view of Neil Gaiman and his writing? Would a reader/fan of Neil Gaiman still read, buy, recommend his books, or even attend author events featuring Neil Gaiman in the future based on his writing merit alone? Or does one stop promoting someone who becomes convicted of a serious crime, like sexual assault regardless of their talent?
No comments:
Post a Comment