SECTION TEN
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COLUMN
FIFTY-SIX, FEBRUARY 1, 2001
(Copyright © 2001 Al Aronowitz)
(Photo by Brenda Saunders )
THE SHAKESPEARE SQUADRON
(PART 9): ISAAC
BASHEVIS SINGER
Isaac Bashevis Singer lived in a bungalow within walking distance of
Wolfie's, on Miami Beach. He knew
most of the people in his neighborhood, from New York City.
Q:
You said that winning the Nobel Prize cut into your time to write. Rather than giving you time to write.
It made you be a public person, which was time-consuming.
And antithetical to what a writer actually requires.
A:
That's true.
Q:
Would you rather have remained obscure?
A:
No. I wasn't complaining.
Just stating a fact.
Q:
One time I free-lance copy-edited manuscripts for a publisher of
scientific monographs and journals. It
was piece work. I was paid by the
page. It worked out to be around
the minimum wage, but I could do as much or as little of it as I wanted, and so
it fit in with my writing.
Except I'd work on my own writing like a man possessed and put the
editing off until the last minute. Then
do a slapdash job. They finally
quit giving me manuscripts to style.
I thought of you proofreading the Yiddish newspaper you proofread for
meager wages.
A:
I told you I wasn't complaining.
Q:
Do you know who you remind me of, walking around Miami Beach in a
raincoat and a hat? I don't want to
offend you.
A:
Meyer Lansky.
Q:
The eternal auslander. The
writer as a gangster. It's not
inappropriate.
A:
Joseph Goebbels said whenever he heard the word artist he reached for his
revolver.
Q:
If they don't treat you that way you're doing something wrong.
If they shower you with honors you have to wonder where you pulled your
punches. Were you only a hack,
after all.
How did they misunderstand? You
must have sugar-coated the pill.
A:
Yes, I've felt that.
You just have to shrug it off and continue to work.
You can't pay any attention to them either time.
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