Amen, Timothy Egan, Amen

Photo by TJ Sullivan

Any moment now, Joe the Plumber's book is expected to be flushed out the pipes of the publishing industry like a clog of matted hair and mucus, so it seems a fitting time to highlight the wisdom expressed in Timothy Egan's op-ed piece from The New York Times, which ran about a week ago.

The lesson is timeless:

The unlicensed pipe fitter known as Joe the Plumber is out with a book this month, just as the last seconds on his 15 minutes are slipping away. I have a question for Joe: Do you want me to fix your leaky toilet?

I didn’t think so. And I don’t want you writing books. Not when too many good novelists remain unpublished. Not when too many extraordinary histories remain unread. Not when too many riveting memoirs are kicked back at authors after 10 years of toil. Not when voices in Iran, North Korea or China struggle to get past a censor’s gate.

Joe, a k a Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, was no good as a citizen, having failed to pay his full share of taxes, no good as a plumber, not being fully credentialed, and not even any good as a faux American icon. Who could forget poor John McCain at his most befuddled, calling out for his working-class surrogate on a day when Joe stiffed him.

With a résumé full of failure, he now thinks he can join the profession of Mark Twain, George Orwell and Joan Didion.

Amen, Timothy Egan. Amen.

— TJ Sullivan in LA