Yes, Virginia, There Is an Internet

I often wonder how people do and say some of the things they do on the Interwebs: the people who betray confidences in public LiveJournal posts, or post naked pictures of themselves doing drugs on Facebook accounts linked to their boss's. It's always seemed like some sort of yawning, hungry pit underneath the soft underbelly of the Internet, this strange trap of self-centeredness and assumption that leads us to think it's no less private than the sweat-stained journal under our pillow. My theory of mind allows me to assume this, but I've never been able to understand it.

Today, I think I glimpsed that chasm.

Some of you might remember my review of Inglourious Basterds. In it, I made a certain comment near the end (now edited out) about a certain Google Ad for a cookbook I saw while discussing the movie. My comment was snide, as my comments are wont to be; just a little parting shot on my way out of the review.

Last night, I got a four paragraph email from the book's author.

Seems I forgot about Google Alerts; seems my phrasing was exactly right for any alerts he may have orbiting about the book's title to have started screaming that I said something. Regardless, I received a long, involved, and surprisingly kind email, letting me know why my statement was incorrect, and how much good the profits from that book have done (it seems all of them are donated to families of Holocaust survivors).

I'm not saying I feel like a bad person—I think my reaction is understandable, and besides that I like to think it made a few people smirk. But the author's reaction is also understandable, and it clearly did do some good in this world, so for the time being I'm going to spare him that snide comment and edit it out of the review. He gets a reprieve from wit until the book is famous enough for him to become an acceptable celebrity target.

But let that be a lesson to you, folks, when you post something of even slightly dubious content: People really do read what you write.

In a way, that's actually kind of a comfort...

I wonder who else I can almost offend...