[New post] But a Novel Will Never Love You Like Your Children Do

Krista Stevens posted: "Writing for GQ, four-time father Michael Chabon reconciles ignoring the advice of a great, un-named Southern writer who told him that having children would diminish his writerly productivity. And those four "lost" novels predicted by the great man's theo" New post on Longreads But a Novel Will Never Love You Like Your Children Do by Krista Stevens Writing for GQ, four-time father Michael Chabon reconciles ignoring the advice of a great, un-named Southern writer who told him that having children would diminish his writerly productivity. And those four "lost" novels predicted by the great man's theory all those years ago? If I had followed the great man's advice and never burdened myself with the gift of my children, or if I had never written any novels at all, in the long run the result would have been the same as the result will be for me here, having made the choice I made: I will die; and the world in its violence and serenity will roll on, through the endless indifference of space, and it will take only 100 of its circuits around the sun to turn the six of us, who loved each other, to dust, and consign to oblivion all but a scant few of the thousands upon thousands of novels and short stories written and published during our lifetimes. If none of my books turns out to be among that bright remnant because I allowed my children to steal my time, narrow my compass, and curtail my freedom, I'm all right with that. Once they're written, my books, unlike my children, hold no wonder for me; no mystery resides in them. Unlike my children, my books are cruelly unforgiving of my weaknesses, failings, and flaws of character. Most of all, my books, unlike my children, do not love me back. Anyway, if, 100 years hence, those books lie moldering and forgotten, I'll never know. That's the problem, in the end, with putting all your chips on posterity: You never stick around long enough to enjoy it. Read the story Krista Stevens | May 7, 2018 at 4:00 pm | Tags: advice, families, fatherhood, GQ, Michael Chabon, parenting, writing advice | Categories: Editor's Pick, Featured, Nonfiction, Quotes, Writing | URL: https://wp.me/p4KhvY-rPa Like Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Longreads. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://longreads.com/2018/05/07/but-a-novel-will-never-love-you-like-your-children-do/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com