It occurs to me randomly today as I’m leafing through my copy of The Poisonwood Bible (really brilliant, by the way–long, but absolutely worth every word) and looking at the picture of Barbara Kingsolver on the back that a writer is almost never judged by their public appearance.
Your typical celebrities with fan followings–actors, singers… so much of their fame is predicated on how they look in public; with writers, it’s almost purely intellectual. You never hear anybody saying, “Oh, I read the latest Dan Brown novel because he’s sooooo cute…”
Yeah, yeah, I know. Pretty easy conclusion. Work with me here.
Since it’s kind of fun to turn things upside down on their heads, who’s the hottest (physically hot, no cheating) writer out there?
Martha Nussbaum. I know several people who have taken an “interest” in her writings on the basis of her appearance. It doesn’t hurt that she’s correct, most of the time, in her analyses of, for example, literary texts, which is unusual. There are loads of hot academic types, who seem to lack that cracked-tooth, painted-fingernail, greasy-haired appearance of your usual deadbeat pop writer or journalist. Finding one who isn’t full of crap, on the other hand, is a problem. Suppose it doesn’t matter.
Delia Falconer is a not unattractive woman and a brilliant, brilliant writer. Anna Marlis Burgard (no pic, sorry guys) is a damn fine looking woman and a great writer, too.
No kidding. I went to a recent John Irving reading in Chicago, and not only was it a full house, there was an almost audible gasp from the ladies in the audience when he walked onstage.
Glen David Gold, author of Carter Beats the Devil and husband of Alice Sebold, gets my vote.
I can’t seem to find a decent picture of either of them on the net, but Terry McGarry (she tends to widen her eyes too much when photographed) and Alexandra Elizabeth Honigsberg are quite attractive in person.
Yeah, I was wondering if her NYT head shot was just a very good picture of her, but she was on The Colbert Report recently and was looking very attractive. I loves me the redheads!