Still, I’m an American, and so can’t help but sometimes wish I were in the one percent. But for me, the cost of even trying to become rich is just too high. I admire people who can balance the two cultures, artists like Picasso or writers like science fiction’s Robert Silverberg, who can keep an eye on their portfolios while also creating moving works of art. Sad to say, multi-tasking is beyond me. I read one book at a time all the way through. If I’m reviewing the book, I have to write the review before I start reading any other book. I especially hate it when the phone rings and interrupts my train of thought. It’s hardly worth pointing out that my trains of thought don’t precisely resemble the Acela skimming along to New York so much as the Little Engine That Could huffing and puffing up a steep incline.
Friday, October 05, 2012
I quite understand …
…The American Scholar: Going, Going, Gone - Michael Dirda. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
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I really like Dirda, and he and I share a fondness for the used bookstores he mentions in that article, but as writers go, he is the "one percent." Being able to read and write about the subject of his choice, and only that subject, is an unimaginable luxury to those of us who pay the rent by frantically keeping several flaming chainsaws aloft--a day job, multiple freelance clients, and the occasional project we actually care about. Many of us aspire to be Michael Dirda, at least insofar as he has the freedom to pick and choose his work.
ReplyDeleteI understand completely, Jeff. What you describe was pretty much what my life was like throughout the '60s and '70s. I think I could have become rich if I had applied myself to the task, but the task didn't really interest me enough. I wanted what I needed to meet my obligations, and to have time left over to do the things I was really interested in.
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