The Times lost a reader, at least for an hour, but my teacher gained a listener.
As for writing about them, even Henry James, who's seldom accused of playing to the cheap seats, had a rule: "Tell a dream, lose a reader".
If travel pieces become slavish gloss, then no one's interests are ultimately served: the reader loses faith, the newspaper loses a reader and the travel company loses a customer.
"Tell a dream, lose a reader," the saying goes, but Brad Watson ignored that advice in his splendidly dream-laden novel, "The Heaven of Mercury," and watched it become a finalist for the National Book Award in 2002.
Until lots of psychoanalysis (which I try to handle quickly in the book; as Henry James said: Tell a dream, lose a reader), I was remote, controlled, self-sustaining (that is, lonely), shabbily dressed, and near with a dollar.
I have lost a reader, but I no longer need ask myself whether, as a lurid tabloid article suggested, this particular fan is heading for the Hamptons to make my acquaintance.
E-mail address GO SIGN UP Share Tweet Until lots of psychoanalysis (which I try to handle quickly in the book; as Henry James said: Tell a dream, lose a reader), I was remote, controlled, self-sustaining (that is, lonely), shabbily dressed, and near with a dollar.
Lose a reader, gain a reader SIR Cancel my subscription to your worse-than-useless magazine.
Once you lose a reader, he or she is gone for good.
You'll lose a reader quickly with a detailed list of those elements.
