One of the many things I disliked about working for a family newspaper was how fragile the editors were to reader criticism. If one person complained about the tiniest thing in a news story I’d written, I’d be dragged into the city editor’s office and raked over the coals about it.
They’d print a correction, clarification or retraction – even if it wasn’t warranted.
The editors’ temerity eventually seeped into my reporting and writing. If I thought someone would complain about the way I wrote a story or the subject matter, I would sanitize it to the maximum degree. Why? I needed the job to eat and stuff.
For the past 13 years I’ve been free of the corporate mamby-pamby poopy-butt stuff. It took awhile for the poison to pass through my system entirely (I’d been gagging on it for 21 years). And the result of this cleansing is my substack “The American Peasant.”
My writing for “The American Peasant” is the way I wrote when I was fresh out of journalism school. I was unafraid of speaking my mind (or perhaps too stupid to not be afraid of speaking my mind). I wrote like I talk and how I think.
Why do I keep that writing sequestered on the substack? Good question.
Recently we started running a few advertisements for “The American Peasant.” The ad (above) is goofy (it looks like I’m trying to sell a tape dispenser). And the reaction has been about what I expected.
Omar P. Bounds III: “Just because you can do some woodworking doesn’t mean you can’t be an ahole.”
Allison Loxsom: “I might have considered buying this. I’ll get something from a craftsman who doesn’t need to be vulgar to be cheeky.”
For me, this means the ad is working. These people wouldn’t like the substack and would be horrified if they subscribed. The language there is direct and unapologetic. The specific words are sometimes crass (and justified). And the topics are not what you’ll find in magazines or books. But they are things I’ve wanted to get off my chest for a long time.
Here’s a free example: People Take Warning: Your favorite toolmaker can disappear.
Some readers have asked: Why not put this stuff on the Lost Art Press blog? It’s too personal. And I don’t want this stuff to appear in the same space as writing from our authors. That’s not fair to them.
So if you’ve ever wondered what I *really* think about ________….. This is where you’ll find it.
A free subscription allows you to read about half the posts. It’s a good way to try things out and see if it’s right for you. “The American Peasant” is not for everyone, but it appears to be for a lot of people (“The American Peasant” has just as many subscribers as this blog.)
— Christopher <bleeping> Schwarz
I love it, I’ve been subscribed to it (and the other two) since you started writing there. But now my problem is that I end up wondering “where did the post about $x get written?” and end up looking at:
The OG LAP Blog
The LAP Open Wire
American Peasant
Never Sponsored (this one is specific enough that you usually know what’s there)
Anarchists Apprentice
And I cry mercy if it was in… a book!
I’ll take two of those bleeping tape dispensers.
“A craftsman who doesn’t need to be vulgar to be cheeky.”?? Clearly, this person has spent very little time around craftsmen during working hours.
Surely you mean timidity, or even timorousness, but not temerity.
I expect a correction, clarification or retraction, even if unwarranted.
Spot on. One note though: whoever is doing the final audio mix on the videos with music should mix the music way lower. Right now it’s bordeline drowning out the speech. This is not the first video of yours with this problem.
It’s not terribly difficult and there are great YouTube tutorials for it. IIRC you lower the music track’s level while increasing its loudness (compressing the dynamic range). It’s been years since I looked it up, but it was something to that effect.
I thought the tape dispenser was a control device…a reminder to keep it YouTube friendly or wear the tape over the mouth
I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone, or what algorithm they use. But at the end of the video, YouTube pops up its recommended videos to watch next. It was that kid playing the banjo on Deliverance.
They really nailed it.
I see a lot of LAP ads or hosted info on Instagram (not sure what it’s called). I’m happy to see it. Given my age (55), I’d rather see that than other age-appropriate stuff such as Ensure or AARP membership.
So where did you get that tap dispenser?
ebay
I see language as a craft. I enjoy reading a book that among others uses language well; just as I enjoy well-crafted furniture. In this context I see vulgar language as sloppy. Just as I do not appreciate sloppy woodworking, I do not appreciate sloppy language. I read your most recent book skipping over poor language choices and found it just as strong as with the vulgar language included. There were not that many instances of sloppy language use, so it was not annoying to read it. In the words of the Minnesota governor, it’s just weird that someone who can write well decides not to do so.
I agree with this point. This was an issue in the Sharpen This series, which I otherwise love. When the next chapter begins, I have to rush to turn down the volume as that banjo is coming in full force.
This was intended to be a reply to JK Laiho’s comment above about the video mixing.
I’m a subscriber of the American Peasant, and I’m sure others feel similarly. But the unfiltered language is part of what makes it great. It feels much closer to what I imagine I would hear, had I the chance to sit down with Chris and just chat.
Long time follower, first time commenter…….I’ll never not enjoy a serious bit of writing that can incorporate the words “poopy-butt” into the context. Keep up the good work!🤣
B. Traven was a Mexican novelist who wrote 5 novels in the 1930s in a sequence called the mahogany cycle where he detailed the system of debt slavery used to log mahogany and the revolt that started the mexican revolution in 1910. So I found your mahogany email on peasant interesting.
Research shows that those of us who cuss are 1) more intelligent, 2) better problem solvers, and 3) live longer.
So, you %#@$ing go, Chris!!
Mother$%%^#$$-eh, right!
One of my favorite RDU airport bookstore purchases was “Swearing Is Good for You” by Emma Byrne. While at CLT waiting for my connecting flight back to CVG I was reading the book when I noticed the two women sitting across from me were giving me mean nasty looks. I just laughed; they didn’t.
Please keep up the great writing delivered with integrity & honesty and the crass, poopy-butt words & all.