Ach well, little ole me, I disagree with, I think, aaaall of you
Popularity is no judgement of quality. Art for art sake (like science for science sake), is, I feel, vital if you want to keep cultural input innovative and I personally would be prepared to pay a bit more across the cheap ebooks I buy if I thought, some how, that would make it possible for someone to 'make art' - whether I liked it or not. If people focus too much on bringing in the dosh they can get formulaic and their out put 'tired' - 'Son of .......' type titles.
And if there is no safety net for artists who are producing work that isn't blockbuster but that does have healthy critical acclaim, we are saying that you either need to be popular, Dan Brown anyone? (Sorry if anyone finds that offensive insert your own pulp fiction writer there if you love him.) Or have a private income. That's got to be wrong.
As for the fact that they should have known better, planned better: well the article is about the goalposts shifting and catching people unawares as they approach late middle age.
Sure, we can all face getting fired in our fifties or whatever, but I personally do feel that someone who is creating something that is valued by a panel of judges whose opinions as critics I personally value, deserves some slack.
And, as someone said earlier when being exasperated that someone can publish 'just' six books in a lifetime, they have devoted their lives to writing books that have a proven track record, if not a multi million turnover, so no, they probably can't just go and find another job in an office or whatever. And if I had to choose between Hanif Kureishi as a secretary or whatever, let's say PR and journo (I'll take my own job as an example) or as a writer of sound, quality fiction, I'd prefer him to stay a writer.
Fiiiinally, but to the person who mentioned only 6 books at 60: sorry but that means you don't approve of Donna Tartt either? Or is that ok if she has a private income? After all, one of the contributors is a journalist to bring in some dosh. So how privately wealthy should someone be if they are planning to devote time to creating something worthwhile? Something that will demand time and focus. That has, for years, been enough to live on and put a little by?
Tartt's average seems to be a decade between titles. There are some people who take time to produce a new book. Is that a bad thing? At what point should people be churning out stuff to secure their old age? Or should they be producing work that will stand the test of time and add an original voice to our culture? And how far should we support them in that, by paying enough on the titles to reach both them and their publisher.
Hanif Kureishi was ripped off by some one recently and lost all his savings. What is more naive, trusting a dodgy financial advisor or believing that an industry that you have known to function in a certain way for 30 years, and in which you could keep your head above water, undergoes a seismic shift, leaving you high and dry?
Just to say if anyone gets cross with me
I'll not be drawn in. Disagree by all means, but no aggressive stuff - how could there be on Mobile Read, we're all far too nice.... Oh well, here goes....