Posted by crazystengel on 2/28/2019 11:41:00 PM (view original):
The sourness extends beyond his writing on his site. A little over a year ago I posted a review of his crime book The Man from the Train in the "What are you reading?" thread. Overall I liked it, but had to comment on something I found off-putting:

I disliked James' condescending attitude to the reader. Plenty of times he explains the differences between early 20th and early 21st century life as if he's a kindergarten teacher speaking to his students. If you're holding in your hands a 462-page book and reading it, then chances are you realize, for example, there was no Internet, TV and radio in 1908 (a point James feels necessary to make more than once). He seems to think he's the only one with common sense and empathy. This culminates in a two-page rant near the end of the book that's truly weird. Directly addressing the reader, he defends people from 100 years ago as having lived lives just as rich and varied and interesting as people today. He writes about his own childhood in the 1950s and says that despite growing up in a small town there was plenty to do, it wasn't boring or uneventful. And he says if you (the reader) think that, you are "despicable" and guilty of "bigotry" and "you are revealing yourself to be an ignorant *******" (if WIS is censoring that last word for you, it's "a-hole"). Anyway, just a completely bizarre thing to include in a book like this. I can only assume that someone from his past made fun of James for being from a small town in Kansas, so he carries this huge chip on his shoulder, and he chose this opportunity to let loose.

P.S. It's worth clicking on the link above just to see italyprof's response to my review. I miss him in the forums!