Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Ask an author

Over at the Paris Review, they're telling the story of Bruce McAllister, the 16-year old who in 1963 had an argument with his English teacher about whether symbols are deliberately or unconsciously inserted in literary texts. He didn't let it lie: he typed up questionnaires and sent them to 150 authors, 75 of whom were kind enough to respond, many of them thoughtfully and seriously.
Jack Kerouac

What did he learn? That science fiction authors are happy to share, which I expected. And that Ayn Rand (presiding guru of greed and selfishness), is an ass who thinks it's absolutely fine to be rude to teenagers.

Ayn Rand.

Click the images to enlarge. I'm off to do 2 hours on The Tempest and another two on media ethics. 

No comments: