And the Voices Say ...
“You seem really lonely.” Well, I am. Or was.
“There are too many characters.” Fuck off.
“It’s too vague, and it’s cold. It’s very cold.” You know that one from Eight.
“These people are deplorable, and I don’t give a shit about them.” Well, they loved me, and I was their friend. So I do, I guess. Or did.
“You should hire an editor.” Your mother should hire an editor.
“It’s very hard on the reader.” Life’s hard. Try it sometime.
“Whoever is gonna get this book is going to need a basic education in psychology and philosophy.” Not my problem.
“What the editor wants is what goes. That’s how it is in publishing.” I don’t work with an external editor, nor will I.
“It’s like someone sat down next to me on a train and started telling me things, but I don’t know why.” Okay.
“You explore a lot of topics but in a very superficial way. There’s no depth.” Your mother is superficial and has no depth.
“I think it is great that you wrote all that but you should go back and rework it, maybe cut some of it out.” How about you cut it out.
“I think you could poach some of his readership.” You’re a poacher. I’m not.
“There may be a degree of care there, but I certainly never got any sense that they wanted to protect.” Okay.
“There’s actually three books here. One is kind of good. The other two suck.” Aw, shucks.
“You need an agent.” Your mother needs an agent.
“God save us from the writer as artist.” God save us from the writer as merchant.
