"A prose style is something you refine through laborious practice, but an artistic conscience, like an ethical one, is harder to cultivate." so great reading this. this is the struggle I'm learning to love with writing
But those two won't talk BACK as characters, so they are just useful idiots for what I have to say as a professional writer. I wonder, is this the REAL distinction between nemesis v. enemy? One will engage civilly, or even not so, while the other will never engage in any meaningful way except when seeking to obliterate you.
I’m not sure if Tim considers Chuck Klosterman a nemesis, an arch-enemy, or simply a peer, but I enjoy the writings of both immensely .
In my mind, they are fast friends who admire each other’s work and call from time to time to congratulate each other on their latest, thought provoking piece.
Here is an essay on the importance of nemeses and arch-enemies from years ago that some of you may enjoy:
I like to keep a stable of nemeses in reserve, for different occasions: The Demulcent Bromidist (whom you describe so perfectly); The Cynical Sell-Out (the distinction is subtle but important); The Mediocre Happenstancer (has stumbled across a hot-button issue du jour and written badly about it). But what -- O WHAT -- is to be done about the most terrifying nemesis of all? The Version of Yourself That Is Just Plain Better? The insights are sharper, the prose more mellifluent, the truths truthier? You seem to approach this shadowy figure when you invoke David Foster Wallace, but is a swoon of grateful admiration all you feel in the face of this ambassador from the empyrean? I dunno. I personally feel capable of jealousy and envy of almost anyone -- I once stared longingly at a ticket taker on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (such a cozy booth! such circumscribed expectations! a beer waiting at the end of a long day!) -- so this could be a Me thing. But I kinda want to hear more about the ones who truly terrify, who cannot be dismissed as hacks, or even hack-adjacent. On the one hand, there's the recognition (as you imply) that there's a category of people, better versions of ourselves, of whom envy is simply pointless . But on the other hand...?
It's a relief to know I'm not the only admittedly "petty, envious, vindictive" person out here; I thought I was just sick with bitterness and needed to fix myself.
Also, somehow I never thought of "the nemesis" in that way! I'd always dwelled in the unfairness ("why not me?") when I could have been using them as warning signs to keep away from ("that must never be me").
The only problem is that either way, I'm wasting precious airtime on some random shmuck who doesn't even know I exist.
Thank you for clarifying this concept. I'm not an expert on this idea, but I wonder if our respective nemeses might be a less happier or at least less content version of who we are.
And now I am wondering...who out there might I be their nemesis!?!
"A prose style is something you refine through laborious practice, but an artistic conscience, like an ethical one, is harder to cultivate." so great reading this. this is the struggle I'm learning to love with writing
Love this! And of course, what is a writer without a good nemesis? (Sad.) So, my two nemeses of late are techBros (https://herojig.medium.com/my-project-plan-for-techbros-must-die-caa778b1c499?sk=ecd107083868b81286ebfbd2957f8411), and Cults of Today (https://open.substack.com/pub/herojig/p/shambhala-terma-or-lsd?r=b4o5c&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web).
But those two won't talk BACK as characters, so they are just useful idiots for what I have to say as a professional writer. I wonder, is this the REAL distinction between nemesis v. enemy? One will engage civilly, or even not so, while the other will never engage in any meaningful way except when seeking to obliterate you.
And this is why David Sedaris is literally a guilty pleasure.
I’m not sure if Tim considers Chuck Klosterman a nemesis, an arch-enemy, or simply a peer, but I enjoy the writings of both immensely .
In my mind, they are fast friends who admire each other’s work and call from time to time to congratulate each other on their latest, thought provoking piece.
Here is an essay on the importance of nemeses and arch-enemies from years ago that some of you may enjoy:
Ihttps://blog.garrytan.com/klosterman-on-the-importance-o
"...a hipper iteration of Erma Bombeck or Andy Rooney..."
Jeez, sorry for being born!
I like to keep a stable of nemeses in reserve, for different occasions: The Demulcent Bromidist (whom you describe so perfectly); The Cynical Sell-Out (the distinction is subtle but important); The Mediocre Happenstancer (has stumbled across a hot-button issue du jour and written badly about it). But what -- O WHAT -- is to be done about the most terrifying nemesis of all? The Version of Yourself That Is Just Plain Better? The insights are sharper, the prose more mellifluent, the truths truthier? You seem to approach this shadowy figure when you invoke David Foster Wallace, but is a swoon of grateful admiration all you feel in the face of this ambassador from the empyrean? I dunno. I personally feel capable of jealousy and envy of almost anyone -- I once stared longingly at a ticket taker on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (such a cozy booth! such circumscribed expectations! a beer waiting at the end of a long day!) -- so this could be a Me thing. But I kinda want to hear more about the ones who truly terrify, who cannot be dismissed as hacks, or even hack-adjacent. On the one hand, there's the recognition (as you imply) that there's a category of people, better versions of ourselves, of whom envy is simply pointless . But on the other hand...?
It's a relief to know I'm not the only admittedly "petty, envious, vindictive" person out here; I thought I was just sick with bitterness and needed to fix myself.
Also, somehow I never thought of "the nemesis" in that way! I'd always dwelled in the unfairness ("why not me?") when I could have been using them as warning signs to keep away from ("that must never be me").
The only problem is that either way, I'm wasting precious airtime on some random shmuck who doesn't even know I exist.
Thank you for clarifying this concept. I'm not an expert on this idea, but I wonder if our respective nemeses might be a less happier or at least less content version of who we are.
And now I am wondering...who out there might I be their nemesis!?!