Frivolous literary note

[Joe Varo]

On Wed, 14 May 1997, dennis grace wrote:

[...]
> Hmmm.  Okay, too obscure a reference on my part.  Old Bill S (as the rest of
> my note suggests) is William Shakespeare.

Ahh...okay.  My misinterpretation.  First I saw "Old Bill S" and then in
the next sentence "Shakespeare" -- thought you were referring to two
different entities.

[...]
> My problem with attributing character lines to authors is a writerly one.
> Take Mark Twain or Alice Walker, for example.  Both of them have had
> characters who make malicious use of the pejorative "nigger."  Now, do you
> think either of them would appreciate seeing such a quote attributed to them
> without the protective gauze of a character's voice?  I know I wouldn't want
> my nastier characters' words attributed to me.  
[...]

Ahh...okay (again).  I see your point here.  But what about the author of
something along the lines of _The_Turner_Diaries_, the book that got
McVeigh and other nuts all worked up.  Can the author of that book also
say "Hey, I didn't say that, my character did"?  Is it okay to incite to
riot (or anything else, for that matter) as long as you do it via a work
of fiction? Where and when does an author become responsible for what s/he
writes?  Reminds me a bit of the de Man controversy from the late 80's --
was he a nazi sympathizer or wasn't he?  Some of his writings seemed to
indicate that he was, but many say that that was just what he wrote, not
what he truly believed, or however you want to phrase it. 

Joe