One of the odd side-effects of writing an eight hundred page
autobiography is that one meets total strangers who know a very great deal
about one's life. A second consequence,
at least for an inveterate story-teller like me, is that quite often, when I
start to tell a story, my audience nods wearily as if to say, "Oh yes, we
recall that one from your autobiography."
I did not put every one of my
stories into that account of my life, but I did put quite a number in. I sometimes feel that I have lived past my
sell-by date.
But there are things I did not say in my autobiography, and that has gotten me thinking about
famous authors who use elements of their personal lives in their writings. I have in mind people like Norman Mailer,
Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, and -- for all I know -- Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy,
and Feodor Dostoyevsky. It is my impression
that if Philip Roth wanted to draw on his personal life for a really great scene or character in a novel, the only down
side of which would be a permanent breach with a wife or child, he would not
even hesitate. I could not imagine
saying anything in my Autobiography [or
elsewhere, for that matter] that might upset one of my sons or even offend a
close friend. The rich and famous are of
course fair game.
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