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How pathetic, it never fails to astonish me that those that have built their quite successful careers by commenting on the antics of others, either in print or other forms of media will flounce the minute the same attention is turned on them.
This behaviour is what marks the like of Pandora and to a lesser extent Dolly for the posh spoilt brats they are.
It’s so bleeping convenient to “take a break” the minute legitimate questions are raised about you presenting yourself as an authority on the worries facing people today. So precious is our Panda she is probably laying in a dark room listening to old Zadie Smith interviews in an attempt to calm and centre herself.
This behaviour is what marks the like of Pandora and to a lesser extent Dolly for the posh spoilt brats they are.
It’s so bleeping convenient to “take a break” the minute legitimate questions are raised about you presenting yourself as an authority on the worries facing people today. So precious is our Panda she is probably laying in a dark room listening to old Zadie Smith interviews in an attempt to calm and centre herself.
How embarrassing. Whatever happened to the old mantra “never read your own reviews”? Throwing a tantrum is not a good look. I have every sympathy with how awful it must feel to get a bad review, but surely it’s par for the course of every writer?
I suspect people have been tagging her in bad reviews, in which case I can understand her coming off Twitter for a bit.
Regarding the five star reviews (compared to the ones and twos): having worked at a big publishing house it was very much common practice to go round the office getting everyone to write these for our books that were getting panned on Amazon/Waterstones/Good Reads.The reviews on Waterstones for Pandora's book seem to be much more critical than elsewhere. I think I trust these ones most...
How Do We Know We're Doing It Right? by Pandora Sykes | Waterstones
Buy How Do We Know We're Doing It Right? by Pandora Sykes from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.www.waterstones.com
Also, as others have said, yes it is often just about how many followers you have. Publishers know that you can publish absolute drivel and, with good quotes from other authors, good PR, and a nice cover, you’ll sell enough to recoup the massive advance these social media authors always get.
Yeah I think that's really common. Fans thinking they're acting like a considerate close friend by alerting them to an issue. When what they're actually being is a massive twit. 'Hey let me message this person I do not know to tell them people are slagging them off' - how could anyone think that's a good idea or a nice thing to do?
Ugh. Get a grip. This is a ridiculous tantrum she’s throwing. Leaf Arbuthnot (another hereditary title / young London-based author who I don’t care for) had a fairly scathing review in the FT in the week her first novel came out, and she thanked them for the criticism and got on with it. If you don’t like criticism, don’t publish a book. And certainly don’t run a podcast entirely based around discussing culture and current affairs - why will Pandora discuss everyone else’s work at length, but refuse to enter into a dialogue about her own work?
The whole rhetoric around her “breaking up with her phone” and “quitting social media” around the time of her publishing date really irked me. She was literally posting every single day. I mean, I get it, you have to promote your book, and she’s probably got publishers pushing her to utilise her following, but don’t make “quitting social media” your MO if that’s gonna be the case!!!
The whole rhetoric around her “breaking up with her phone” and “quitting social media” around the time of her publishing date really irked me. She was literally posting every single day. I mean, I get it, you have to promote your book, and she’s probably got publishers pushing her to utilise her following, but don’t make “quitting social media” your MO if that’s gonna be the case!!!
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Totally agree! Also just seen these tweets which I think are totally OTT and over-sharing.
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I noticed that on a recent High Low episode P&D mentioned that they now refuse to review any books negatively. If they don’t like a book, they won’t talk about it. How convenient!
Pandora cannot take any type of criticism, constructive or not. I stopped following her on Twitter a while ago after she kept moaning whenever someone gave a slightly negative review to the High Low. She’d have an outburst of ranting tweets so the likes of India Knight could soothe her bruised ego by telling her how amazing she is. I’m not surprised she’s reacted like this over one less than glowing review.
Was going to same the exact same.
She has a real problem with criticism. She plays it extremely safe. She’s made a point of saying she only talks about books she likes, she has stopped having an opinion and stated that she thinks it’s fine to sit on the fence which obviously it is while you consider your view but ffs don’t have a podcast then. Refusing to offer any constructive criticism about other books is a way to protect herself from criticism - look how mean everyone is when I never say anything mean and am nothing but supporting of ALL groups in society, poor me - and her circle leap to her defence. I notice that the bloke who gave her a cover quote (the worst one, calling her a leading thinker of her generation or some other
) readily springs into action when anyone is critical on Twitter. If you’re going to write a book of essays and get well paid for it you should be confident enough to defend your ideas or accept that they need more work. Don’t hide behind your publicist who doesn’t know the meaning of the term ‘kill piece’. Suppressing any criticism is so anti being a leading thinker of a generation
Also notice that she has Stacey Dooley on her podcast. They must be under same management or something as Stacey is fast become part of the gang. She has her own problems with criticism (see comic relief BS where she could t see what the problem was with the white saviour pic).
No-one ‘likes’ criticism, and most people act with good intentions even if in doing so they drop a clanger (eg Stacey Dooley & Comic Relief). I just wish people in the public eye would be a little more pragmatic. Some of it is mean & unkind (so what?), but much of it is useful feedback. I came to Tattle when Sali Hughes had her epic tantrum on Insta & was bemused why she’d gone off on one. It shows a lot more grit & maturity to ignore criticism or concede there is something useful in it than flounce off. These people put themselves in the public eye & make a good living from it after all. Some criticism should be seen as a tax on success.
I do feel for Pandora as it must be awful to have something so personal, that she has worked so hard at, given scathing reviews. I think the danger with the literary elite is that they cocoon themselves in a fluffy echo chamber of gushing accolades and support where no one seems to offer the role of 'critical friend' prior to publication. Of course, the real world is not this bubble of Primrose Hill creatives who all need each others' accolades to further their own projects. It's harsh, and when you've heard nothing but praise prior to publication, the real world reviews are going to sting that bit more.
I think Pandora needs to do whatever she needs to do now to preserve her sanity; if that's coming off socials so be it, although not sure there was the need for an airport style departure announcement (as another Tattler put it!)
I think Pandora needs to do whatever she needs to do now to preserve her sanity; if that's coming off socials so be it, although not sure there was the need for an airport style departure announcement (as another Tattler put it!)
Exactly what I was thinking, middle / upper class privilege to get personally offended by a piece talking about class and opportunities.
Exactly. Friendly reminder that Pandora is a hereditary title (http://www.thepeerage.com/p19709.htm#i197087). She’s related to Jane Birkin. She went to St Mary’s in Ascot, where term fees are £13,380 a term (and her niece now goes there, so it’s likely she might also send Zadie there). Her house in Kensal was £1.3 million. Christ - her bed is upholstered in Pierre Grey, which goes for upwards of £600 a metre! She categorically isn’t, and can’t be, an objective commentator on the ephemeral “millenial condition”. Her life is so far removed from any kind of normal “gen rent” experience; trying to act as an orator for the middle classes is just laughable. Throwing a tantrum when she (very fairly, and fairly diplomatically) gets called out for doing so is repugnant and spoilt. The article made some really important points, namely that Pandora’s book has an entire essay bemoaning fast fashion and why we all need to buy less, without ever really addressing how her job as ST’s Wardrobe Mistress contributed to and perpetuated consumer culture. She literally made her money, whether through Instagram or her column, by enticing people to buy. Fine - people change, as do consumption habits. But she seems to have a repeating pattern in failing to acknowledge how she is not only complicit, but culpable in the problems facing millennials. She doesn’t seem to understand that she can’t remove herself from the problem - in order to write about it well, she must fully examine her role in these issues. She’s not some observing Alain de Botton-esque voyeur - she’s an ex-fashion writer with skin in the game.
Pierre Frey*
Pierre Frey*
I've not read the whole book but from the reviews I trust I gather she doesn't actually have any ideas.If you’re going to write a book of essays and get well paid for it you should be confident enough to defend your ideas or accept that they need more work. Don’t hide behind your publicist who doesn’t know the meaning of the term ‘kill piece’. Suppressing any criticism is so anti being a leading thinker of a generation
I really liked her Dolly’s book to learn about how middle class London girls live. I wish I can jet off to see a dude with expensive taxi fare, instead what I did was stalking him endlessly on early day Facebook or MSN 
I felt her writing is good, I actually cried on that part where her bff’s little sis died of leukaemia. That book did highlights a lot of her friendship, I find it so much better than the Moany Pebbles book -The F word
I felt her writing is good, I actually cried on that part where her bff’s little sis died of leukaemia. That book did highlights a lot of her friendship, I find it so much better than the Moany Pebbles book -The F wordExactly. Friendly reminder that Pandora is a hereditary title (http://www.thepeerage.com/p19709.htm#i197087). She’s related to Jane Birkin. She went to St Mary’s in Ascot, where term fees are £13,380 a term (and her niece now goes there, so it’s likely she might also send Zadie there). Her house in Kensal was £1.3 million. Christ - her bed is upholstered in Pierre Grey, which goes for upwards of £600 a metre! She categorically isn’t, and can’t be, an objective commentator on the ephemeral “millenial condition”. Her life is so far removed from any kind of normal “gen rent” experience; trying to act as an orator for the middle classes is just laughable. Throwing a tantrum when she (very fairly, and fairly diplomatically) gets called out for doing so is repugnant and spoilt. The article made some really important points, namely that Pandora’s book has an entire essay bemoaning fast fashion and why we all need to buy less, without ever really addressing how her job as ST’s Wardrobe Mistress contributed to and perpetuated consumer culture. She literally made her money, whether through Instagram or her column, by enticing people to buy. Fine - people change, as do consumption habits. But she seems to have a repeating pattern in failing to acknowledge how she is not only complicit, but culpable in the problems facing millennials. She doesn’t seem to understand that she can’t remove herself from the problem - in order to write about it well, she must fully examine her role in these issues. She’s not some observing Alain de Botton-esque voyeur - she’s an ex-fashion writer with skin in the game.
Pierre Frey*
I agree entirely. Don’t write a book of essays if you don’t want to encourage discussion, debate and criticism of your arguments.
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