GENTLE READER
Cruelty-Free Answers to “Did You Like My Novel?
I couldn’t put it down
“I love that you don’t want everyone to “get it” immediately.”
“ Didion, Vonnegut, Wodehouse, your novel is right next to theirs. Physically.”
“Framed a certain way, eating and breathing are wildly self-indulgent, too.”
“The work is right there on the page.”
“In my writers’ group, “creepy intensity” is our highest compliment.”
“Yeah! FUCK punctuation, am I right? FUCK you too, syntax!”
“It’s its own niche. “
“Finally, someone took the “first thought, best thought” idea and ran with it for 600 pages!”
“It defies category. I mean, really defies the shit out of it.”
“When something like this comes along, clearly it’s time for my generation to step aside.”
“Anyone trying to write something that lasts should study your work very, very carefully.”
“Do I like it? The real question is, will my grandchildren’s grandchildren like it? Time can be the only real judge of this.”
“There was so much world-building, I often forgot where I was, or what I was doing, or why.”
“Acts of courage are beyond criticism.”
“That answer will take four hours and I’m on deadline!”
“Sure, I could praise it. But I don’t want to punish you with expectations.”
“Does a daisy care what I think? Celebrations of personal style don’t need validation.”
“I know so much more about you now. Wow. I had no idea.”
“ I wouldn’t cut any of it. It will be just as successful at twice the length.”
“It was like driving blind in a hailstorm, and we’ll either get out of it eventually or hit something that will kill us instantly.”
“So refreshing not to be burdened with a lot of “correct” writing.”
“I read this and thought, now that the form is smashed and defiled, we can build anything.”
“This changes how I think about writing. The creative process. The point of human striving in general, really.”
***
Thanks to Betsy Denson.
A T. Kent Jones comedy buffet awaits here.
