I wrote yesterday of my respect for clear writing, and how often I drowned in the words of clever writers.  No sooner had I put down one edition of Harper’s and took up another than I discovered myself gasping for air a second time.  The new essay was written by Will Self, an auth

Winning the Pulitzer Prize won’t ensure a writer respect from a certain cadre of critics, those who owe their high perches to their employment rather than to any literary achievement.   For good or ill, these arbitrators of taste imagine they determine what passes for fine literat

Those of us who stand at the bottom of their climb to literary success may be surprised to learn that established writers continue to face rejection once they’ve made it to the top. Having produced 4 novels, George Orwell found it nearly impossible to publish Animal Farm, for exampl

Prior to the Christmas holidays, I had coffee with a friend who announced she was reading a biography on Norman Mailer. I confess, I’ve never read his novels, the most famous being The Executioner’s Song and The Naked and The Dead; but I am familiar with his essays and columns and