Columnists should be more serious
By David Gallo | Apr. 8, 2010I am writing to lodge a complaint against Tommy Maple and Ryan Spencer. A column is an opportunity to make people think about ideas and issues in a way that other sections of the newspaper can’t. I believe the two of you often squander this opportunity in an effort to sound humorous and smart. As an avid reader of The New Yorker, where high-brow, and often convoluted language ultimately serves as a flourish to a more important point, I encourage Maple and Spencer to have a little more respect for their readers. I often finish one of their columns and find that thought-provoking substance occupies a marginal space, and the remainder is a weekly exercise in the stringing together of forced metaphors. Now, I know that these columns are supposed to be humorous, and I think they both have a talent for humor. I only ask that if you’re going to write a column with a subject matter of importance, that the subject matter get a little more airtime next to the humor.
