New journalist's blog: Two Jakes

My friend "MW," an excellent journalist, has started a blog called Two Jakes. He's a funny, observant, and erudite writer and every one of his entries is thought provoking.

Where are the Ugly Writers?

Remember when writers were ugly? Jowly, bald, fat, slovenly -- that was the writerly look for ages. Writers were the anti-photogenic strivers that lurked on the margins. Now, it seems like everyone's a looker. Just thumb through the NY Times Sunday Book Review on any given Sunday - damn, when did novelists become major babes and hunkolicious studs? I do hope this isn't a new prerequisite for publication -- you know, a nifty prose style and a creamy complexion, that kind of thing. Otherwise, I'm in deep shit.

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Reader comment: Kevin Morrissey says:

Re: the post on "Ugly Writers" -- Steven Almond (author of the books Candyfreak and My Life in Heavy Metal) opined on this very topic for the Virginia Quarterly Review a year ago:

"I can tell you that I only trust the ugly writers. Deep down, those are the ones who have earned their wrath. All the rest of them, the pretty boy and girl authors, screw them. Or, better yet, don't screw them. Get them all hot and bothered. Tell them you're hungry, the buffet table is looking pretty inviting, and leave them there, lathered up, grinning, in a hot cloud of their own fabulous bone structure"

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