Thursday 16 June 2011

Julie Burchill: 'Why I love abuse from Indy readers'


Julie Burchill celebrates her first year as a columnist on the Independent today by telling readers how much she loves their abuse.

Burchill reveals she turned down a job travelling the world for the Sunday Times magazine to join the Indy.

She writes: "One of the most delightful aspects of my time here has been the abuse. Before I took this job I was offered the cushiest billet you've ever heard of by The Sunday Times magazine, basically flying round the world at the front of the plane hanging out with whoever I pleased and writing about it.

"The problem was me. I hummed and hahed and kept making excuses not to start my job there. I'd miss my husband. My feet would ache from the travelling (I really said that!) But I had to admit the truth: I didn't want to do a job where I wasn't going to get abused. Then The Independent found me, and the rest is hysteria.

"I can't explain why I enjoy being disliked; it might have something to do with being an adored only child and growing up with an almost sociopathic sense of self-esteem. Verbal humiliation for me is what flagellation is for judges; when you feel so impervious, what could be more exotic than, momentarily, being treated like the lowest of the low?

"It's a perk for me, like a company car. I can't drive but I know what gets my engine running. More, now, again!"

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