Once upon a time there was a literary Q&A featuring John Ashbery, Jamaica Kincaid, and Salman Rushdie. The students in attendance vied (seemingly without shame) to succeed in asking the most self-aggrandizing question possible. The competition, needless to say, was fierce.
And then one student, even more insufferable than his contempories, raised his hand.
“Is it possible to be a writer, and to be happy?”
John Ashbery, tortured and uncomfortable: “I don’t know yet.”
Jamaica Kincaid, vaguely smug: “A better question would be: is it possible to be a writer, and to be anything else?”
The gazes of the ravening crowd fell on Salman Rusdie.
Rushdie flashed a smile, gave the student a thumbs up, and said: “I’m VERY happy.”
And then there was wine and cheese.
Haaaaaaaaaa! It’s the thumbs up that does.
(via The Hairpin)
