Not that we want to dwell too long on the spectacular flameout of Robert Olen Butler‘s marriage, but remember how he told off Gawker, insisting his detailed explanation of why his wife left him for Ted Turner was “intended strictly for those who personally know Elizabeth and me” and “had its intended effect around Tallahassee and in some other places where she and I are actual human beings”?
Well, it turns out those “other places” stretch way past Florida, as we hear through the grapevine that some version of that email worked its way north to the complete opposite end of the country, to people who spend significantly less quality personal time with Butler than his creative writing students. Little enough time, in fact, that the recipients thought the bulletin was creepy. Although, let’s face it, you could be Robert Olen Butler’s best friend ever and be creeped out by that letter. If only he’d asked me; I would’ve told him that the best cure for a break-up is to dance around the living room with classic power pop at full volume.
(Don’t worry, I didn’t link directly to the MP3; that would be fiercely bad manners! But click through, and enjoy a three-minute work break…)