Neil Gaiman claims his Goodreads was hacked solely to launch a sick burn on Amanda Palmer
Aux Features Books
Someone was very funny on the internet today, and it was either Neil Gaiman, or it wasn’t. It’s like this: A few hours ago, screenshots began circulating on Twitter of a purported entry on Gaiman’s Goodreads account—i.e., the place where books go to have online drama with each other. The post purported to show that Gaiman was reading Randi Kreger and Bill Eddy’s Splitting: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone With Borderline Or Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which is, obviously, just about the funniest-in-an-awful-sort-of-way thing a person could seen to be reading a week after Amanda Palmer announced that they were splitting up. (It’s also, for what it’s worth, apparently pretty helpful as a book; a 4.28 rating on Goodreads, with 481 people weighing in.)
Given that Gaiman was apparently blindsided by Palmer’s decision to make their separation public—through her Patreon—it wasn’t hard to see this as some expertly hurled retaliatory shade. Sure, it seemed a little mean for the American Gods writer’s brand, but hey: Divorce does stuff to people’s brains.
Sadly (or whatever), the illusion of un-amicability has now been shattered: Gaiman has updated his Goodreads blog to declare that, wouldn’t you know it, some ding-dang hackers decided to infiltrate his book review social media account, solely to make an extremely cutting joke about his divorce. “Whoa,” he wrote, “Someone with a dark sense of humour just hacked this account. (I suppose that’s what I get for leaving it here and not doing anything for a long time.)”
Now, this is very clearly one of two things. Either true, in which case: Well-played, hyper-specific Goodreads hackers. Or false, in which case, Gaiman is covering his ass. Happily, either option is kind of spectacular, although we do hope—for the sake of the pair’s child, if nobody else—that this is as far as the internet shenanigans go. Once a Goodreads account has been violated, we can only imagine what’s next. A Letterboxd hit on Coraline? Accusations of NextDoor chicanery? A challenged to someone’s LinkedIn credentials?
Please, everyone. Let the madness stop here, with only one (really excellent) burn having been dispensed.
102 Comments
Blurst. And I have to say that Sir Terry Pratchett would never have stooped to such levels…as in I can’t see him having a Goodreads account. But I could be wrong and, well…
Terry was very technologically adept. He was one of the first wroters with a big on-line fan base at alt.books.pratchett (I think it was that or alt.books.terry.pratchett, but I can’t remember). Were in not for the Great Enbuggerance, I suspect he would have had one.
I remain skeptical, sir…
Big Oblivion/Skyrim fan too
whoah i had no idea, and even less that he worked on a mod for oblivion himself.
Pratchett also went on record that The City from the Looking Glass Studios’ Thief series (1-3) come closest to how he imagines Ankh-Morpork. That in itself is very interesting, because the quirky writing and his characters’ exploits often obscure to readers that the place is supposed to be an oligarchic shithole.
Loved video games in general. I imagine he must have been quite pleased when his daughter Rihanna got into the industry.
There was alt.books.pratchett but alt.fan.pratchett was the main newsgroup. He posted there every so often. One of my first brushes with celebrity was him responding to a question I asked there about something or other.
Thanks. I read it myself in the 90’s, but that’s been a while ago. Personally, I always loved the Annotated Pratchett file.
alt.fan.pratchett.
He didn’t just have a fan base, he was an active community member of afp for many, many years. As well as being a big tech fan (one fun aspect: being one of the first authors to have a computer game based on their works), he was really keen on direct contact with fans. But later on, when the fandom got too huge, he also liked to go incognito. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to learn that he actually did have a goodreads account, only under an assumed name (either very silly, or a very erudite literary reference, or both) and he just didn’t tell people about it.
My understanding is that he just preferred to have his social media accounts run by professional PR people. Like, there was a “Terry Pratchett” GoodReads account (a friend of mine won a promotional contest on the site back when ‘Nation’ came out), but iirc Pratchett himself just wanted to spend his time writing, doing activism stuff, and being with people he cared about. So his social posts were typically just generic promotional things, like illustrated quotes from the Discworld novels, or cross-posts from news outlets where he was interviewed. I don’t think he ever replied to fan comments.
At the end, yeah, and I don’t really blame him. But as others have pointed out downthread, in the 90’s and early 2000’s, he was pretty active in his on-line fan community.
Honestly, regardless of who did it, good stuff.
Yeah, so 2020 continues to suck.
That’ll teach him to not update his old password, DieWitchDie123.
It’s German for “The Witch The 123.”
No one whose password is in German could be an evil man!
My password is Passwort.
YOU KNOW WHO’S PASSWORD WAS IN GERMAN?????
😆
I mean, that’s super meanspirited and cruel, and reinforces some fun mental health stigmas to boot, but uh. Lawl, I guess. Sick burn, whoever you are, I bet you really helped the healing process for them and their five year old.
Yes, it is a sick burn, and a deserved one.
Well shit, if you know exact details to decide who’s mentally ill and who deserves what, sell TMZ the story already. We’re all so bored we decided this is quality gossip for some reason, so I’m sure they’ll pay well.
This needs more upvotes. What happened to the usual performance of maximum wokeness? I guess mental health just isn’t as sexy or en vogue as other causes right now.
I mean, it never has been, but wokeness aside I find everyone likes to wring their hands only until it involves a stranger they think they don’t like.
Yup. Agreed. Anyway, nothing about this whole situation is particularly hilarious to me. These people, whatever their faults may be, are clearly going through some difficult times. You’d have to be a pretty mean-spirited person for your first instinct to be to make lame jokes about it.
BPD and NPD are both part of the Cluster B personality disorders, which also includes Antisocial Personality Disorder (psychopath/sociopath to the layman). They encompass psychopathic behaviors and are very toxic personalities to be in an intimate relationship with.
BPD and antisocial are wildly different, BPD is much more treatable than it used to be especially as it comes in different forms. (I’m friendly with a borderline ex and have several family members in the mental health field.) And unless she’s ever disclosed she’s BPD or NPD, it’d still be none of our business.
I’m friendly with a borderline ex and have several family members in the mental health fieldGreat credentials. I actually have a degree in Applied Science and I worked as a psych nurse.
You’ve obviously never divorced someone with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
I sure don’t see a formal diagnosis for her cited anywhere on the Internet. Just a lady who can be a drama queen using her Patreon the same way she’s used her Pateeon for years.
Where did I claim Amanda Palmer had a personality disorder? I never mentioned her at all. My statements were solely about Cluster B personality disorders.
The kid is actually the one to blame for its parents splitting up.
They usually are, and should be told so at every opportunity.
It’s very mean – almost certainly too mean to be Gaiman, so presumably hackers, so both mean and none-of-their-damn-business.Having said that, I’m not sure why we should be outraged on a mental health dimension here. Borderline and narcissism are both real things, and it’s not really ‘reinforcing stigmas’ to recognise that. In particular, borderline and narcissistic personality traits are commonplace and normal – although for most people they’re not so extreme as to be considered a disorder – and normalising dialogue like this, which treats them as normal things rather than as things too terrible to name, isn’t necessarily harmful. There’s a big difference between hearing that someone has certain traits, and then assuming that they must show certain behaviours (i.e. attaching a stigma to those traits), vs seeing someone show certain behaviours and then judging that they exhibit certain traits. If anything is ‘stigmatising’, it might be the idea that we should call these things “mental illness” – not the usual term for a personality disorder, and contributing to a perception that unusual (even problematic) personalities are an “illness” to be cured.
If you see someone getting dead drunk everyday, it’s not “stigmatising mental illness” to suggest they may be alcoholic (though it certainly would be stigmatising if you heard they were an alcoholic and assumed that meant they’d be dead drunk every day!). Likewise, when you see someone acting in a narcissistic way, it’s not stigmatic to suggest they may be a narcissist. Donald Trump, for instance, is clearly a narcissist (though it would be unfair stigmatising to assume that every narcissist would act like Donal Trump…).
I think speculating on someone’s diagnosis to insult them, during a personal matter we know nothing about, is a shitty thing to do. Saying she’s a narcissist because she used her Patreon as a personal blog like always is basically a more educated way to call her a bitch.
And this is using accusations of misogyny to silence criticism of someone who has shown a pattern of mercenary and manipulative behaviour, yet keeps getting rewarded for them.
That might be why you’d say it; but it isn’t why everybody would say it. Most of us aren’t looking for excuses to call people bitches in code. Many of us have, on the other hand, learnt to spot narcissism. [ftr, I’ve no opinion on whether Palmer is a narcissist, because I know nothing about her. Certainly, trying to ‘manage the story’ through a manipulative and passive-aggressive airing of private facts to a group that exists for no reason other than to praise you, without the consent of the other party to those facts, is a textbook example of narcissistic behaviour – but I’ve no idea whether this is characteristic of her behaviour more generally, or just one out-of-character bad decision]And using the misogyny card to silence discussion of problematic behaviour is exploitative and shitty, not to mention perpetuating the harmful idea that men cannot be victims of abusive domestic behaviour. And for the record, in that post I called exactly one person a narcissist, and he’s a man, so no, ‘narcissist’ is not just code for ‘bitch’.
But he is a bitch
Neither Amanda or Neil have used the words “separation” or “divorce”. Amanda said she was heartbroken, while Neil stated that they were going through a rough patch like many others right now. Both have requested respect and privacy for the sake of their son. Your article is presumptive, inconsiderate and helping to propagate this BS online.
Of course they haven’t. They are “artists”! It’s pretty clear from Palmers post that they done. Neil’s twitter response reads like good old fashion British dry wit. Palmers whole Patreon post is very performance and shitty. “Oh I just had to tell everyone why Neil isn’t here but I need to spare my child”. Which of course she didn’t or she just could have lied. People who let the world know their relationship is having issues are generally already in the end phase of that relationship. The whole thing feels like the two coolest kids in the high school drama club are breaking up.
Fuck you.
Do you need a hug? I hear some “artists” use them as currency
You win the prize for this response. A+++
Can cosign, it is an extremely valuable book to have when you have a personality disordered partner.
I certainly could have used it when I was divorcing my NPD ex-husband. People who’ve never been in a relationship with a partner with a Cluster B personality disorder just have no clue.
I seems plausible- without 2 factor authentication (which you’d likely not have set up on an account you rarely touch) it’s relatively easy to hijack a famed person’s account, since their ‘challenge qustions’ are usually easily googalable. Still very funny either way
I made sure my challenge questions are unrelated answers/words in a non-English language.I also made sure I had the added precaution (social two factor authentication if you like) of making sure I didn’t get famous.
The easiest way to prevent identity theft is to ensure your identity is shittier than even that of the thief.
Done!
I keep hoping someone steals my identity and takes all my debt.
Reminds me of this exchange from ‘Bob’s Burgers’, where Gene saves Tina and Louise from quicksand:Tina: “Gene! You saved us. I owe you my life.”Gene: “No thanks. I’ve seen it and I’m not impressed.”
Gaiman’s challenge questions“Where would you like to visit?” – The land of dreams and stories“Who is you favorite person?” – Oberon, lord of the Fae“What is you biggest fear?” – Spiders
Neil Gaiman’s challenge-question answers are all short stories about challenge-questions and their answers.
“What Was Your First Concert?” “To explain this, I must tell you about a gray and grim day in my fourteenth year, where I found myself in the back of a taxi with a nineteen-year-old woman from the local college, which was the start of an adventure I have not forgotten…”
“What is your favorite color?”
It’s absolutely plausible. I’m pretty sure there are more hacked accounts on Goodreads than there are legitimate, active users.
I’m surprised people haven’t jumped on a third possibility that’s juicier than the hacker theory, and probably more realistic, too……he has children from an earlier relationship, doesn’t he? Might not have a great opinion of later partner? Check. Might well know their dad’s password? Check. Gaiman might cover for them with an “oh, I’ve been Hacked, by random passing Hackers, how coincidental, still, you know these Hackers with their Hacking, nothing to be done” story? Check…Of course, it probably IS just random hackers who think they’re funny. But you never know…
What is this, domestic violence for upper-class white people?Holy fucking who cares. Delete it and get on with your life.
Yeah, stick to sports AV Club!
Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt all the gossiping about celebrity marital affairs. More like TMZ Club.
I for one would much rather click through another 400-item list. Gotta keep busy during quarantine!
Sweet, enjoy all those wedding underboob fails that I’m sure are coming your way. Maybe they’ll put them in that terrible side scrolling gallery format that nobody likes. Clicky click click!
Weirdly enough, upper-class white people domestic violence is still mostly about hitting, choking, and gaslighting.
Five bucks says one of Gaiman’s offspring got hold of his phone while he was visiting and did it.
I don’t know how Goodreads works; is it possible that he legit started reading this (probably very helpful) book on his Kindle and it auto posted?
If your Kindle is linked to Goodreads it will automatically mark it as “reading”.
Okay, but what does Howard Stern have to do with … oh. Oh no.
Isn’t there a third possibility: That he is genuinely reading the book (maybe on Kindle), and didn’t notice/remember that it was going to update his Goodreads status publicly?
I doubt it. I am 100% sure the only time anyone reads that book is in physical form, in front of this current spouse, to be an asshole.
If you read the article and looked up the book you probably wouldn’t be so sure.
That’s probably sarcasm.
This is more likely than hackers I think
Considering what we know of Palmer I don’t find it that hard to believe, considering she recently tried to weaponize her fanbase to harrass a music journalist over a press boycott she imagined is happening. Or the whole “faked a suicide” bullshit.This is a cruel joke if it truly is a hack, but Amanda Palmer is also women’s Kanye West. Only he reportedly pays his fucking collaborators in cash money.
Kanye don’t deserve that.Seriously, she’s awful.
Counterpoint: I like her music and how raw and emotional it is, like she’s on the edge of a breakdown and a breeze could knock her over.
“the place where books go to have online drama with each other.”As a writer who needs more reviews on Goodreads, this is the most accurate description I’ve ever seen of that site.
Maybe it’s just the authors I read are super chill, but I’ve been on Goodreads for years and have yet to encounter any drama.
“Un-amicability”?
Really, Hughes?
It is just awful, not funny-in-an-awful-sort-of-way. Laughing with someone mocking the effects of mental illness? I thought this site was above that. Ciao.
What a sad world we live in, where people are getting entertainment from something like this.Ghouls.
I feel like this comment should not be typed on the internet and should, instead, be written by a person dressed in a poofy pirate shirt using an ink quill on a piece of parchment
To be fair, people in pirate shirts got a LOT of entertainment from even more ghoulish things…
I’m assuming by “this” you mean “Amanda Palmer”, and yes, it is sad.
I mainly use Goodreads because the reading challenge function they have helps me maintain discipline in reading the amount of books I want to read. I never even dreamt that it could be used for passive-aggressive drama.
This is the internet. Everything on it can be used for passive aggressive drama. Even Google Maps.
Even Rule 34?
Its amusing that Neil knows his fans are such zealots that he can actually get away with the classic “It must have been some mean ol’ hackerz!” routine. lol You guys are such shrubs.
I’m actually a fern.
Patreon vs. Goodreads.Surely social media wars have reached their nadir. Right?
You, good sir, have an eccentric way of spelling “apotheosis”.
Gaiman is also high profile that he might have some assistants with access to his accounts, one of which might have thought it funny. Plus, wasn’t he working at a University as a writer in residence? I imagine school computers aren’t particularly secure and anyone in the school’s IT could have popped onto his computers and whatever was still logged in.
Their breakup is pretty depressing for me. I didn’t even like either of their art very much but there was something pleasant about the idea of it. For reasons which are too personal to post.-An Anonymous Nerd
The plus side is that it’s given Neil an idea for a ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’ style story where a man’s Goodreads profile becomes a dark reflection of his innermost demons.
Everyone gets one social media hack. No more. No less.
Are people ever going to learn what “hacked” and “bot” mean?
Neil is the one that flew halfway around the world away from his young child during a pandemic, but sure – Amanda is the problematic one in that relationship.
Borderline and narcissistic together? Sure, I guess they both “split,” but there is a huge difference in the amount of sympathy I tend to have for someone with one than with the other. “ha ha you’re a narcissist” is very different from “lol you’re borderline.”
Pray tell, which of the two mental disorders do you think is deserving of the sympathy?
Likely the hacker was the under talented & overrated Amanda Palmer herself to drive people to her Patreon page. You’ll know if there is a link