Commentary » The 88-year-old literary doyenne publicly calls out Musk for being “a nouveau riche who doesn’t read books,” but he really launched the rocket from science fiction novels

88-year-old Princeton literary matriarch Joyce Carol Oates publicly lambasted Musk on X, saying he never cares about "things almost everyone treasures," including friends, family, books, and music. She said even the poorest "have more beauty and meaning" than the wealthiest people in the world. Musk directly retorted calling her a "liar."
(Background: SoftBank's Son Joon-gi disagrees with Musk's space data center: launching rockets and maintenance costs are not cost-effective, plus communication delays)
(Additional context: AI recruitment tools exposed to racial discrimination! Stanford research: systemic inequalities exist for Black and Asian individuals)

Table of Contents

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• 88-year-old literary matriarch calls Musk an uneducated "nouveau riche"
• The books Musk reads, which Oates would never touch in a lifetime
• These two people are basically living in different universes

Key Summary

• Joyce Carol Oates, 88, who has taught creative writing at Princeton for decades, published over 60 novels, nominated five times for the Pulitzer Prize, and won the National Book Award, accused Musk on X of never showing signs of appreciating or even being aware of "things almost everyone treasures," including friends, family, nature, pets, movies, music, and books.
• Her post has nearly 5 million views and 83k likes.
• Musk responded by calling her a "liar," saying she "delights in being mean," and that every line in her post "can be proven false with a simple search." He added, "Eating a bag of sawdust would be more enjoyable than reading her laboriously pretentious drivel."
• This clash sparked huge reactions on X, which is Musk’s own platform.
• But I must say, this confrontation is a false premise in itself.

Musk’s books, which Oates would never touch in a lifetime

Musk is not uneducated.

At least he has said he read Asimov’s "Foundation" series, calling it "probably one of the best works in history." The core concept of "Foundation" is "psychohistory," a mathematical science that predicts the future of civilizations. The protagonist, Hari Seldon, devised a plan to compress the dark age after the fall of civilization from 30,000 years to 1,000 years.

Musk aims to turn stories into reality with SpaceX, reducing the risk of human civilization’s extinction and making humanity a "multi-planetary species." His version is that Earth is in trouble, and Mars or other planets are backups for humanity.

Musk is a devoted reader of Adams’ "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy," which he considers his most important book. It features the famous joke that the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything is "42." But no one knows what the question is. Adams said, asking the right questions is harder than getting the answer.

Musk put this joke in the glove box of his 2018 space-bound car, letting it orbit the sun with the solar system.

He also reads Iain M. Banks’ "Culture" series, which depicts a highly advanced civilization with AI-controlled starships, each with its own name, often with a touch of philosophical humor.

He named SpaceX’s offshore autonomous recovery ships after these ships:

"Of Course I Still Love You"
"Just Read the Instructions"
"A Shortfall of Gravitas"

In 2025, a new ship will be launched called "You’ll Thank Me Later."

Every time Falcon 9 lands on these ships, millions worldwide watch live, but few notice the ship names—only those familiar with "The Culture" series understand the references.

These two people are basically living in different universes

In an interview with The Guardian, Oates said her novels focus solely on "people and the dramatic situations between them." She said AI is killing the younger generation—an entire generation sending a thousand job applications only to receive AI-generated rejection letters, sometimes even being interviewed by AI. Her work is about understanding the inner human, childhood wounds, lost friendships, adult disappointments—things that cannot be quantified.

Her universe is inward, focused on the human psyche.

Musk’s universe is outward. His protagonists are not children growing up in small towns, nor broken marriages, nor a woman’s life. His focus is on the human species, spanning hundreds or thousands of years. Musk is looking at humanity’s future.

These two are arguing about different things and will never intersect.

For readers of the crypto space, Musk is not a stranger. His way of promoting Dogecoin, building X Money, calculating the costs of colonizing Mars—all stem from the same mindset. He truly believes in the sci-fi stories he reads; he thinks human civilization can be designed. He doesn’t read books in the traditional sense; he lives inside a sci-fi novel.

Common Questions

Does Musk really read books?

Yes, but he reads sci-fi. He has said Isaac Asimov’s "Foundation" is "probably one of the best works in history," and considers Douglas Adams’ "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" his most crucial book. SpaceX’s rocket recovery ships are all named after starships from sci-fi novels.

What are Oates and Musk arguing about on X?

Oates criticizes Musk for never showing appreciation for books, friends, nature, or music in his posts, claiming even the poorest users have more beauty and meaning. Musk retorts by calling her a liar, saying her words are "laboriously pretentious drivel." The debate has garnered nearly 5 million views.