Sadness is simply something to be treated with antidepressant meds and otherwise need not be spoken of.

I have worked really hard to defy categorization, to break down a taxonomy whenever it comes my way.

Updike worked this way, and I just kinda borrowed it from him. So the memoir will be relief from novel writing for a moment.

The Great Recession is not imaginary, and the effects loom large. There was an article in the NYT about the galloping death rate among white men in middle age. Higher than among any other demographic, etc. Mostly death by drugs, alcohol, or suicide. Many of them rural. My feeling is that it's many people who haven't been able to get back into the work force. Reg Morse is an example of the problem.

I am a better writer for having fewer demons, and I am more curious about the world and the people in it. So those of you thinking you might need your demons in order to be creative: I beg to differ.

My contention is that that style is just as stylized as an ornate style.

God howls with laughter at earthly plans, you know?