Allen Pierleoni, who runs the Sacramento Bee Book Club, has a column in the February 21 issue of Publishers Weekly about his experiences dealing with authors … and audiences.

Fans don’t come off as being happy. Well, the male fans anyway.

Here’s what Pierleoni had to say:

Fans run the gamut, too. Most are upbeat and seem glad to be members of the club. But the mostly male science fiction/fantasy readers who’ve attended events for Kim Stanley Robinson, Terry Brooks, and Greg Bear seem almost dour. In contrast are the female fans who flock to meetings that feature such authors as Diana Gabaldon, Rita Mae Brown, Perri O’Shaughnessy (the pseudonym for sisters Mary and Pamela O’Shaughnessy), Suzanne Brockman, and Karen Joy Fowler.

Are fans of Kim Stanley Robinson dour? And are fans of Karen Joy Fowler … not?

I wonder whether this is a difference only evident in fans who aren’t a part of organized fandom, that is, enthusiastic but non-convention-going readers. Fans, not faans.

What do you think? Because Pierleoni’s male/female observation isn’t a distinction I’ve ever noticed before.

Have you?