How to use this Page

I’m fascinated by anonymous novels. I love seeing ads in old Publisher’s Weeklys claiming that a new novel is written by a bestselling author who’s concealing his or her name to see how it’ll affect sales. I think it’s amazing that people used to be able to publish anonymous sequels to other authors’ books. When I can find it, I love speculation about who the real author might be.

To M.L.G.; or He Who Passed is an anonymous novel from 1912 that purports to be the autobiography of a successful American actress. She’s fallen in love with an Englishman, and he with her, but she’s scared to tell him about her somewhat disreputable past face to face, so she’s decided to publish it as a book instead.

Needless to say, it’s pure fiction. And I have no idea when or how this was discovered, but apparently it was written by Alice Muriel Williamson. Yes, the one who was married to Charles Norris Willamson and wrote many nifty books with him.  She also wrote a another book as the author of To M.L.G. — a novel than doesn’t pretend not to be one. And, although I’m beginning to think I dreamed it, I could have sworn I once came across a reference to another novel written by A.M. Williamson and published anonymously, possibly with the word “box” in the title?

Really, the fact of the book is more interesting than the content, although it isn’t a bad book. The narrator recounts her early life — in boarding houses, with a wealthy benefactor, and as an embryo actress — in a fairly natural way. She remembers more about some periods than others, she digresses and moves around in time a little, and she changes and grows in not entirely unreasonable ways. On the other hand, a lot of the book is just meant to shock. The narrator’s early life is meant to be kind of gritty and unpleasant, and it is, I guess. There are some moderately gruesome deaths, and for a while she’s put into the care of a drug addict. Later, she’s fairly frank about becoming a theatrical producer’s mistress in exchange for his patronage — as frank as you can expect of a 1912 novel that’s sort of tailored to become a sensation, anyway.

We finish up with a lot of vague stuff about self-discovery, and then, because the book is supposedly meant to tell this guy only the stuff he doesn’t know about her, it cuts off before we even get to meet him. And because the narrator talks about her life as if it’s all just leading up to falling in love with him, the book often seems like a lead-up to a meeting we never get to see. I get sort of frustrated when characters tell each other things they already know — a very unstealthy species of stealth exposition — but I really wanted it here, because as it stands, To M.L.G. has no real ending.

Some of the contemporary reviews are pretty enjoyable. Here’s a quote from a particularly diplomatic one: “Assuming even at the risk of questioning her good taste that this is a real human document, the author will have some compensation even if she fails to win back MLG — she may be sure of her royalties.” And here’s one from the only reviewer I found who was willing to state an opinion on the fact or fiction question: “To MLG or He Who Passed is one of the salient novels of the season. The autobiography of a successful actress, it is wonderfully impressive for a certain distance — until the read

It is easy to be anonymous. We can be anonymous by blending in at a sporting event or a high school. We can be anonymous driving a car, ducking in a club, or disappearing in a crowd. We can leave a note unsigned or a comment button unclicked. We can allow ourselves to feel invisible and in that, feel empowered or ignored - sometimes simultaneously.

But you are not anonymous. Unsigned notes can often be tracked to their writers, through context, motive, or investigation. And online? Oh child, you should know that every computer has an address, and every computer that you connect to has that address. When the computer is big, like a news site, there is little need or motive to track down those addresses even if the comments are inane. But for a small site, like this one, it is easy to know the location of every computer that visits and every person that comments. While there would generally be no need to look at this information in any depth, I can do so, as can pretty much anybody with a site and the motivation. So you may click a button to comment without a signature, but you are not actually anonymous. I know, crazy - but that's the Internet.

As this distinction can be unclear to some or an invitation to others, I have turned off the anonymous comments on my site. Almost everyone who comments here has an account anyway, so it is a small sacrifice for me and done with the intention of maintaining better control over what may appear online.

Let me say that being anonymous has a power that should be used wisely. Being in crowds can make us feel anonymous because we are one of so many people that our individual actions aren't being watched. This can be exhilarating as we shout at sports events or sing loudly at rock concerts. And it can show an ugly side as people shout insults at town halls or spout hateful messages on YouTube. Being anonymous can be freeing when you aren't worried about being noticed, and yet worrying when you don't notice that your freedom requires a responsibility to do the right thing. Or at least, not to do the wrong thing. Even if nobody knows it but you.

My new post at Edwardian Promenade is up! It’s about one of my favorite Elinor Glyn books, The Visits of Elizabeth, and two sequels, one by Glyn and one…not.

I found myself thinking, halfway through Elizabeth Visits America, about the way books take place in their own separate worlds. I mean, I often think about how an author’s style sort of creates an alternate universe, so the works of Elinor Glyn take place in a world where women are naturally a bit conniving and men are very simple and countries age like people, but here I was thinking more about how I read a lot of books set in the same time period, but somehow I always relate them in terms of style, not history. Anyway, there’s a bit in Elizabeth Visits America where Elizabeth is in New York, and she talks about young people who aren’t out in society yet, and how the boys and girls are as familiar with each other as siblings, and how their dances are almost like children’s parties, and I suddenly realized that — remember, this is 1909 — hey, that’s Patty Fairfield that Elizabeth is meeting, basically. So, I don’t know, I thought I’d share that.

Anyway, the post is here.

We have always wondered who would win in the conflict between pirates and ninjas. Here is some of the much sought after evidence that shows pirates are truly better than ninjas.

1. Water And The Earth

Pirates have a natural tendency for doing battle on water where waves keep the battle field in constant motion. This may make many pirates unsteady on stable land; however, it areas with varying elevation the pirates advantage may increase from the standard 75% of the Earth that is made up of water.

2. Pirates and Puzzles

Pirates have a very keen sense of puzzling abilities. Their incredible puzzling skills are so potent that they even created a MMORPG to recruit and train more pirates. So since many people like puzzles and pirates are good at puzzles; pirates have more appeal to everyone.

3. The Triond Test: Pirates / Ninjas

At the time this article was published Triond had over 100 pages of pirate related articles and poems. There were less than 50 pages containing poems and articles about ninjas. Some may claim that ninjas are more stealthy, of course everyone can see a wet ninja that’s in the ocean.

4. Pirates And Ninjas In Art

Image Source

Even in art we can see that the ninjas are no match for the pirates. Ever since the ninjas were driven into hiding, pirates have been tackle more noble projects such as eliminating Digital Rights Management. They have also supported Anonymous in the war against Scientology through the protests called “Sea Arrgh I and II”.

5. Pirate Talk

Pirates regularly share their linguistic ability with all in the world. Ninjas hide in fear for their language is no match for the complexity of all that is pirate speak.

Jon L. Mills is Dean Emeritus, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Governmental Responsibility at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Listed as Florida Trend magazine’s “Legal Elite” he also served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives for ten years.  In his new book, Privacy: The Lost Right, he provides an overview of privacy in today’s intrusive world.  The book explores the complex web of laws and policies that fail to provide privacy protection and identifies available protections.  In the post below Mills argues that the general public would care much more about intrusions to their privacy if they had a better idea of how often it is subtly violated.

A recent article suggests modern Americans, unlike previous generations, don’t care about privacy intrusions. I disagree. It is not that we don’t care, we really don’t know how often our privacy is invaded.

Citizens’ expectations of privacy have not changed. What has changed is the oft-invisible, technology-driven depth and subtly of intrusion into personal privacy.

A study reported that 84 percent of Britons polled said they did not give personal income information over the Internet when, actually, 89 percent “willingly” did. The real questions are: Did they understand what information they were revealing? Did they expose their income information knowingly?

People are unaware of privacy intrusions in everyday life because intruders don’t put the public on notice, unless it’s in the fine print. Yet, when people feel the effects of privacy invasions, they do care, deeply.

Imagine the Los Angeles woman who began receiving harassing contacts and telephone calls after an anonymous person in Berlin posted suggestive and salacious information about her on a dating Web site.

Imagine the parents of six young college students murdered by serial killer Danny Rolling when media sought to publish photos of their children’s mutilated bodies. Imagine racecar icon Dale Earnhardt’s widow, Teresa, when his autopsy photos were about to be posted on the Internet. I know firsthand how these families suffered because I was the attorney representing them in blocking these hurtful intrusions.

Ask the person who has lost his job, his health insurance, or his freedom due to compromised privacy data.

Citizens become privacy advocates when painful privacy intrusions affect them or their families.

Privacy intrusions are possible everywhere – government sources, anonymous bloggers, data brokers and the media all have the motivation and the technology to invade our privacy. Using the Internet and technology is not a license to surrender our privacy.

Citizens need greater awareness of privacy invasions and protections. Lack of knowledge does not equal lack of caring.

There are some things we cannot change. If you are in an accident, the press will write about you and maybe your family. If government is opening your email because of your recipients names writing or the things you write, you can change friends and topics. But, if we do not want to withdraw from modern society, we can do some things for ourselves. Read the boring privacy statements from your credit card company. Know how they are using your information and claim as much privacy as you can. Minimize the amount of information you give out in purchases, surveys and questionnaires-particularly over the internet. Always assume information you disclose in today’s world will be available to your neighbor or next date. Finally, let policy makers know you care about privacy.

ShareThis