"Everybody writes a book too many"
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A novelist admitting that writing is a compulsive act and a self-inflicted hazard: that is the sting in Richler's line. "Everybody writes a book too many" is less a scold than a shrugging diagnosis of artistic appetite. The phrasing is democratic and merciless. Not "most writers", not "some of us", but everybody. Even the greats. Even him. It turns the romantic myth of the author as inspired prophet into a more embarrassing picture: the author as someone who can't stop talking.
The intent is double-edged. On one side, it's a warning about repetition: the late-career novel that replays old riffs, the memoir that settles scores no one asked for, the sequel that mistakes familiarity for necessity. On the other, it protects writers from sanctimony. If overproduction is built into the job, then failure isn't a moral lapse; it's a statistical inevitability.
Richler came up in a literary culture that prized the "major novel" and treated publication as proof of seriousness. His comment punctures that prestige economy. It also reads like a jab at the marketplace, where publishers want another installment and readers want the comfort of a brand. The subtext: ambition is rarely satisfied by finishing; it keeps whispering, "one more". The line works because it's funny in the way a hard truth is funny - a compact joke that doubles as an autopsy of ego.
The intent is double-edged. On one side, it's a warning about repetition: the late-career novel that replays old riffs, the memoir that settles scores no one asked for, the sequel that mistakes familiarity for necessity. On the other, it protects writers from sanctimony. If overproduction is built into the job, then failure isn't a moral lapse; it's a statistical inevitability.
Richler came up in a literary culture that prized the "major novel" and treated publication as proof of seriousness. His comment punctures that prestige economy. It also reads like a jab at the marketplace, where publishers want another installment and readers want the comfort of a brand. The subtext: ambition is rarely satisfied by finishing; it keeps whispering, "one more". The line works because it's funny in the way a hard truth is funny - a compact joke that doubles as an autopsy of ego.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
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