"...if people who haven't read the book seriously – or at all – still wish to have a say, then they're as entitled to do so as I am to not give a shit."

Heh, Andrew Karre. You should get interviewed more often.

From an interview at PW:

Do you think the controversy surrounding the novel is warranted?

In a word, no. It is one thing to criticize a book by engaging with it on its own terms – the words on the page and quality and thoughtfulness of their arrangement by the author. It is another thing entirely to imagine hypothetical effects on imaginary audiences. To do the latter insults the book and the actual readers.

To call this book "nihilistic" is to admit to being an incompetent reader. It is a provocative book but it is never sensational.

I want it, I want it, I want it.

Previously: Even more push back on The Bunker Diary's Carnegie win.