lee siegel vs. the internets (this book sounds terrible)

who is this guy anyway?

The sort of guy everybody in Starbucks ignores?

Who is it that “rewrote history, made anonymous accusations, hired and elevated hacks and phonies, ruined reputations at will, and airbrushed suddenly unwanted associates out of documents and photographs”? Mr. Siegel’s immediate answer is Stalin. But he alleges that the new power players of the blogosphere have appropriated similar powers.

http://pareene.tumblr.com/

my friend tommy and i did a cover of that for french camp talent show in 8th grade

the new power players of the blogosphere

I knew I shouldn't have tipped my hand so early.

The internet has really harmed the social skills of losers who hang out in coffee shops.

(posted from a laptop in a coffee shop)

He was the author of the University of Chicago Press's tradiest newish novel (that I can recall) around the turn of the millennium.

I half-remember some kind of story about him partying in a hot tub at some kind of book event, but the details won't come clear

he evidently has some kind of reputation as a cultural critic, but the couple of things i've read by/about him make him sound like kind of a self-important jackass. (not that cultural criticism and self-important jackasses are somehow incompatible.)