When Success Is Keeping the Seat Warm

Recovery memoirs. James Tate. Tortoise. And Ben TG.

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Our Sunday posts are usually paywalled, but if you’re in the shit and need a lift, email me here and I’ll hook you up: ajd@thesmallbow.com.

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Hi all — keeping the seat warm again today for A.J. More of my writing can be found here — it’s free, but you gotta ask. —Ben Gaffaney

I’ve known writers with gigantic Notes-app lists of thoughtful ideas for future articles, poetry collections or novels. I, too, have a Notes-app list, with exactly three ideas to burn:

• Fred T.

• How smart is my wallet supposed to be?

• Recovery for introverts

My shortage of ideas comes from an honest place. I was influenced at a young age by Roger Ebert’s maxim that “It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it,” and I still tend to prefer art where you can see the marks, imperfections, and weirdness, rather than uncanny accuracy or clockwork plots. By the same token, I can usually summon enough belief to find a throughline in anything, though I’m just about ready to give up on Fred T., due to the constant pummeling stream of news that creates an ever-shifting context to life in the U.S. I’ll pitch it to The Baffler if it ever comes together.

Anyway, since I haven’t cracked Fred T., and the second idea on the list is not an idea at all, I’ll get started on number three.