LW, you are incredibly young, so please understand that the pain and confusion you are feeling is perfectly normal, especially as you break away from parental/societal expectations and try to follow your gut.

Yes, artists tend to be self-involved--they feel most alive inside their imaginations.

But when artists turn their self-involvement and imagination into actual artistic products, then other people benefit. The arts are about connecting with other humans. Don't let anybody tell you this is somehow unimportant or unnecessary work, even if the marketplace doesn't value it.

I went to an MFA program, and was extremely lucky and grateful that my med-school-obsessed immigrant mother somehow decided to pay for it. It was a mixed experience, though, and I would not recommend it to anyone in this economy if you don't have parental support. Don't do an MFA on student loans if you can help it--that will put a lot of wage-earning pressure on you right after graduation, while you are still trying to save mental space for developing your ideas.

But there are other things you can do, short of an MFA, while waitressing or otherwise working F/T. Check out community college classes, private mentors (see Gotham Writer's Workshop, for example), online classes. Ignore the people who purport to tell you that "real writers" don't need this kind of support. Hemingway went and sat at the feet of Gertrude Stein to get what he needed. We're lucky now that we don't have to be socially connected or expatriate to Paris to find help.

I would also recommend that you read Victoria Nelson's book ON WRITER'S BLOCK, which is far more universally useful than its title would imply.

Don't listen to the people who insist that you aren't a writer because you watch TV or drink or procrastinate. Focus and productivity don't come naturally to all of us, especially when we're depressed (which you seem to be). Classes, mentors, deadlines...many writers require these sorts of things to at least get them started. Don't be ashamed of your weaknesses at this very early stage. Get the help you need to move forward, and be patient.

Above all, learn to be kind to yourself.

Sandy Asirvatham

writer & musician in Baltimore

Of course he's 22. That's exactly the age when writers tap easily into this level of snark and get away with it. If he were much older, his hyperbole would make him sound immature.

And speaking of hyperbole...Brightstar, your unpublished status probably has less to do with the color of your skin than with the content of your character. E.g., unfunny, one-note screeds against all womankind are apparently not in high demand among editors today. Such a pity, huh.

Over at Slate, where a shortened version of this letter was also published, LW actually reveals the amount to be $30,000.

Go on that trip, LW. Travel cheaply in Asia, Africa, or South America, you can make it last a while. But save some portion of that. You will need it later on in life, when significant but not life-changing chunks of money are needed for a house downpayment, new car, more education, kid's college fund, whatever.

It's only happened to me on one occasion, and I was lucky because my subject was a former teacher of mine who graciously submitted to a do-over. But I do live in fear of a re-occurrence. Good luck with the digital recovery process. I'm sure we'd all like to hear the breadth of Johnson's discussion but your summary of the main points is fascinating and...perhaps..scary enough.

If it were truly a neutral reference, you would simply use a word like "man" or "person" or "asshole" or whatever to express your dislike of David Dinkins, or the President, or whomever.

going to step up and advocate for a return to 50 percent marginal tax rate on the highest earners, as one anti-cap CEO suggested in a NYTimes op-ed today?

....chirrup chirrup chirrup (the sound of crickets against a background of total silence)....

Brian has 3 children from his marriage, Louise has 1 son.

I'm with those readers who hear a definite personality disorder in this woman's self-reporting. She reminds me of my mother, who is 72 but profoundly immature, insecure, and fearful, and still acts like a teenager where men are concerned.

My heart goes out to all four of those children. Their parents are too busy being fucked-up and self-absorbed to notice the damage they're doing to the innocents around them.

Thanks for that description of "Thriller in Manila." Can't wait to see it.

I remember loving "When We Were Kings," which tells the story quite aggressively from Ali's POV, as elucidated/enhanced by Norman Mailer and George Plimpton.

But that film left out all those other, more complex, truly journalistic details you mention were left out of the earlier film--such as Frazier's humble origins and Ali's vicious trash-talk. I hate to think of "...Kings" as merely a hagiography (presided over by two besotted, Iron John-era literary masculinists who speak of Ali in nearly messianic tones), but it sure sounds as if the new movie is far more nuanced and realistic.

Even bought it for my brother-in-law a few Christmases ago.

She really should stick to benign lit crit.

Oh, and by the way, how many more admitted conservative letter writers have to say, "Gee, Camille, I love your stuff, and I agree with most of it, and you seem so very intelligent, not at all like other stupid liberals" before people stop calling her a liberal?

Sometimes I think I'm the only one who's ambivalent about everything, but maybe that's just narcissistic of me!

typo in the headline