all great writers are driven by their passion for a cause...Usually for the underdog,, A controlled rage to help
No doubt that is true of many, but does their best writing come out of that passion? I think most great writers are driven by a desire to write for its own sake. Mark Twain wrote some powerful iconoclastic political pieces, but I think we can agree his best stuff was Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. And Steinbeck's best stuff (imo) was Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday, and Tortilla Flat, stories that praised the fine art of wine drinking and carrying on. I don't recall them being very political, like his more celebrated writing was.
most great writers tend to be left wing..
<G> Do you really think so? Are TS Eliot, John Crowe Ransom, John Dos Passos, Robert Penn Warren, Flannery O'Connor, Fred Chappell, Walker Percy,... I could go on and on...are these left wing writers? I think even old Ed Abbey, one of your favorites, wouldn't be considered left wing. |
