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Vance Bourjaily, January 16, 1964: Difference between revisions
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Dear Vance,<ref>{{NM}}’s letter to [[w:Vance Bourjaily|Vance Bourjaily]]. The novelist Vance Bourjaily (1924-) met Mailer in New York in 1951 and introduced him to several writers. Theodor Reik (1888-1976), the American psychologist, was an early and brilliant acolyte of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939.</ref> | Dear Vance,<ref>{{NM}}’s letter to [[w:Vance Bourjaily|Vance Bourjaily]]. The novelist Vance Bourjaily (1924-) met Mailer in New York in 1951 and introduced him to several writers. Theodor Reik (1888-1976), the American psychologist, was an early and brilliant acolyte of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939.</ref> | ||
The serial business is excellent for straightening out one’s life, since there’s no time to do anything but work. Years ago, Theodor Reik was being analyzed by [Sigmund] Freud, and as a talented young man he was naturally interested not only in being a superb analyst but a musician, a writer, a lover, a boulevardier, a vigilante, even a mad genius. Freud listened and got angrier and angrier. Finally he said, “Reik, you want to be a big man? Piss in one spot.” So that is what the serial business puts you up to. | The serial business is excellent for straightening out one’s life, since there’s no time to do anything but work. Years ago, [[w:Theodor Reik|Theordor Reik]] was being analyzed by [Sigmund] Freud, and as a talented young man he was naturally interested not only in being a superb analyst but a musician, a writer, a lover, a boulevardier, a vigilante, even a mad genius. Freud listened and got angrier and angrier. Finally he said, “Reik, you want to be a big man? Piss in one spot.” So that is what the serial business puts you up to. | ||
Actually, it’s like ten-second chess. You have to make your decisions in a hurry and depend on the probability that the professionalism you’ve acquired over the years is backing you up, that the bets are good and solid and that you’re enough of a gambler to take an occasional long shot which excites you. I think one benefit from writing a serial is that one could give a good practical course in how to write a novel afterward, for you spend most of your time dealing with the simple mechanical aspects of book writing. Never before has it been quite so important to get a character out of a room with a minimum of sweat. | Actually, it’s like ten-second chess. You have to make your decisions in a hurry and depend on the probability that the professionalism you’ve acquired over the years is backing you up, that the bets are good and solid and that you’re enough of a gambler to take an occasional long shot which excites you. I think one benefit from writing a serial is that one could give a good practical course in how to write a novel afterward, for you spend most of your time dealing with the simple mechanical aspects of book writing. Never before has it been quite so important to get a character out of a room with a minimum of sweat. | ||