The impermanence of literary fame

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tomarin

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Let’s say you invented (or borrowed) a time machine and went back to the United States of the 1950’s. I think it’s a safe bet that the majority of ‘talked-about’ writers at that particular moment in time would be unfamiliar to you, even if they were ‘big names’ at the time. And conversely there would also be writers working at that time who were obscure to their contemporaries but very well known to you as a denizen of the future because they ended up making the cut, earning a lasting reputation as their books reach a wider audience, perhaps even after their death.

Isn’t it strange how few authors actually make it into the literary pantheon even though at the time of their highest fame it’s hard to imagine them not making it? I guess we’re all creatures of a particular time and place and that affects our perspective.
 
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What’s the quote?
“Ninety percent of everything is crud”
 
I wouldn’t say crud necessarily but maybe having less permanent value than meets the eye.
 
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I wrote a novel about a jester that has laser beams coming out of his eyes, and the whole book is about people trying to measure how far his laser beams go. The novel has zero dialogue.

Just got a movie deal with Sony.

just joking
 
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I’ve thought of this before, too. It makes you wonder who is out there right now slaving away with zero recognition who will impact the future in untold ways. 🙂
 
JD Salinger, Ralph Ellison, Ayn Rand, Dr. Seuss, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ray Bradbury, Robert Frost, Jack Kerouac, E.B. White, Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell

Many of the talked-about writers of the 50s have stood the test of time.
 
Interesting counterargument: I would only quibble with Robert Lowell. I think his stature has been diminishing.
 
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I do wonder, though, if they will still be talked about in 100, 200, 300 years from now. With our culture going in a digital direction, it seems like it will be easier for the culture as a whole to “remember” things indefinitely. But will things still fall by the wayside?
 
Yes – that, I think, is a sea change in our experience of literature. There are more and more books being published, but often in a digital-only format. It feels ephemeral, and also overwhelming.
 
This may be a propos: I just came across a quote from E.B. White in which he compares writers to a bean plant, who ‘has his little day, and then gets stringy.’
 
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