A hypocrite?

I read with interest your profile on the novelist Lydia Millet, who worked at Larry Flynt Publications 15 years ago and is apparently still mining it for material [“Lydia Millet Really Goes to Extremes,” by Scott Timberg, Jan. 30]. Millet’s characterization of Barely Legal magazine as “particularly vile” is very surprising. By condemning Barely Legal, Millet is condemning every person who reads it.

It’s disappointing when any novelist passes judgment on people, but especially so when the novelist is known for her “unlikable” characters and is lauded for her ability “to see through certain hypocrisies.”

Speaking of which, if Millet truly believed that the magazine was vile, why did she continue working there? Oh, yeah -- to earn her “MFA” by exploiting people she regarded as reprehensible. Does she have the same contempt for her fictional characters? If so, I guess I won’t be reading any of her novels.

Lisa Jenio

Beverly Hills

The writer is executive editor of Barely Legal magazine.