Everyone Wants to Collaborate

Everyone wants to collaborate with the writer. “They” want to tell us how to make our work better, brighter, sharper, funnier, sadder, longer, shorter, less subtle, more subtle, more socko, more boffo, sicko, psycho; improvements they’re all qualified to make because of their various titles and because, unlike the writer, they’re not too close to our work. (As though feeling or being too close to your endeavors is some sort of sin. “Someone else is going to finish that ceiling for you, Mr. Michelangelo. The Pope feels you’ve gotten too close to your work.”)

LARRY GELBART