'To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.' – W. Somerset Maugham
‘86 at Bennington College
Sometimes, it feels like all the famous authors know/knew each other. The other day, I picked up a copy of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the promotional quote in the blurb was written by Tom Wolfe. In the same batch of books, I also bought Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho – which was blurbed by Norman Mailer. After I got over my initial satisfaction, imagining them all hanging out with one another, I realised that it actually wasn’t altogether that surprising. It makes sense that these luminary mid-century writers would be interested in one another’s work. It’s not like there was some crazy secret club they were all members of.
Except for Bret. He actually was in a crazy secret club, and it’s called Bennington.
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