Speculations

[Monte Davis]

> So, if TRP were ever quietly sitting on the listserv, what 
> better time to to get feedback from the most involved critics 
> of all?..

Just a personal reaction to this -- and by extension to *all* discussion of
TRP as "reclusive," the "long silences" between books, etc. 

Given the breadth of his sources, the depth to which he traces their
"knotting into," and the richness of his cloisonne' and polish... I think
the ~3600 pages in six novels over 43 years are testimony to the
hardest-working man in show biz.

I'd find that output remarkable even were TRP an obsessive-compulsive
hermit. It's even more remarkable that he's had a life aside from the ms. in
progress. And nothing seems more natural than that he's managed to have both
by careful rationing of everything else. Sure, I'd love to see ol' Tom
strolling up my driveway for a few beers and a rambling conversation after a
hard day at the quadrille pad. I'd give him *great* feedback. So would many
of us.

But I also know how much time I've wasted (and how many promising ideas I've
pissed away in conversation and online) over 35 years of a non-fiction
writing career, and I'm very glad he's been smarter than that.