Why Not?

[tmcg]

I admit to not being entirely clear on why Joseph Epstein, in "Think You Have a Book in You? Think Again," wants to discourage people from trying to write books. I suspect that he might actually not, and that the editorial is intended to be some form of satire written primarily for the purpose of promoting his new book. How can it be otherwise, when his essay is so ludicrously snobbish and his new book is called Snobbery? Unfortunately, the all too appropriate book title, appearing in the bio tagline at the end, is the only useful indicator. As satire, the essay fails. It comes across a straightforward and poorly presented argument against any attempt to realize the creative or expressive impulse for its own sake. While pretending to try to spare aspiring writers the hell of the writing process, he comes across as trying to spare himself some umbrage at lesser beings' having the audacity to think they can write, and at the marketplace's accommodating the ones who write what he calls schlock. I looked for winks. I looked for nudges. Maybe it's me, but I couldn't find them. Whether or not he was trying to be clever, I think maybe he should have taken his own advice before he started.

For what it's worth, I did look for some source material, so here it is. Epstein refers to a survey in which eighty-one percent of respondents indicated that they "feel they have a book in them--and that they should write it." He doesn't cite the source, but as far as I can tell from a Web search, it was a survey sponsored by the Jenkins Group, Inc., and there's a report on that survey at FreelanceWriting.com. Interestingly, while the Jenkins Group offers a variety of services to various types of publishers, it may also be a subsidy, or vanity, publisher.

At any rate, there's a long answer and a short answer to any (futile) serious consideration of Epstein's piece, and I will spare the servers the long answer. The question: "Why should so many people think they can write a book?" The answer: Why shouldn't they? Maybe they can.

Bard: Oblivion awaits! A poem: I shall write a poem.
Editorial: Your poem will probably suck.
Bard: But in black ink my love may still shine bright!
Editorial: Don't waste your time.

Comments

Ink: Why Not?

[(Anonymous)]

Great points there, T. I also had trouble figuring out if this was a tongue-in-cheek article or a straight one. As is, it is either too harsh and snobby or not at all funny. I can see his point sort of, but it could've been done better.

:-)

Vrea

Re: Ink: Why Not?

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

Agreed. It's an interesting subject, and I can understand approaching it with the intent to be brutally truthful, but either he didn't have enough space to do it justice (from whatever the heck his standpoint was, which is hard to nail down from what's there), or he was just dicking around.