You hear all this whining going on, "Where are our great writers?" The thing I might feel doleful about is: Where are the readers?
Interpretation
This quote suggests a concern about the lack of readership rather than the absence of talented writers.
Gore Vidal's quote highlights an underlying issue in the literary world: while people often lament the absence of great writers, it is equally important to recognize the diminishing interest in reading. It implies that the vitality of literature depends on an engaged and attentive readership, and without them, even the greatest writers may struggle to find their place in a society that values other forms of entertainment over reading.
In practice
During a literary event, one might say, 'Gore Vidal once pointed out the real concern lies not in the absence of great writers but in the lack of readers.'
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
We read Charlotte Bronte not for exquisite observation of character - her characters are vigorous and elementary; not for comedy - hers is grim and crude; not for a philosophic view of life - hers is that of a country parson's daughter; but for her poetry. Probably that is so with all writers who have, as she has, an overpowering personality, so that, as we say in real life, they have only to open the door to make themselves felt.
The atmosphere of orthodoxy is always damaging to prose, and above all it is completely ruinous to the novel, the most anarchical of all forms of literature.
For me alone Don Quixote was born and I for him. His was the power of action, mine of writing.
Ultimately, my books are not about the politics, although the toil and the struggle and the wars in Afghanistan have a significant impact on the lives of my characters.
Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach.
There is hardly a pioneer's hut which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I remember reading the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin.
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