A personal essay in two stages about the misadventures of a writer, the literary yearning, and the destiny of books.
Translation and prologue by Isabel Zapata.
Does one write to tell a story or to satisfy a longing? Does one publish only for the sake of recognition? Writers inhabit central and precarious places in the society to which they apparently belong, but at the same time reside outside of it, in vast and invisible "forests." That duality does not allow them, however, to solve the central problem: reconciling reality and desire through words. Right there lies, for Gould, the cost of writing, of wanting to dedicate oneself to writing.
"Books fail, even books that seem born to succeed. Perhaps that should be the number one lesson for people who aspire to make a living from writing: books fail. Which books? Almost all of them. Emily Gould learned that sooner r...read more
