The reason for writing the book in secret.

Topic: Nathaniel Rich on Internalizing Criticism

Nathaniel Rich: Well, I didn’t talk about the book when I was writing it for five or six years, so when I- when I, you know, read any of the reviews that have come out so far, my first response is- is kind of- is still surprise and excitement of someone read my book, that I didn’t- it- it-- the idea that other people are reading what I wrote and was sort of thinking about it for five years is still astonishing to me on some level. Maybe I’ll get past that soon, but whether they have good things to say <laugh> or bad things to say, I’m- I kind of just wanna thank them for reading my book. I feel like it’s really exciting. So I’m still at that phase. Maybe there’ll be a time when I’m really bitter and angry, or- or my mood-- I’ll have to go to bed if I read a negative review or something. But at this point, I’m- I’m-- it’s just exciting to me that people are reading things that I wrote, and it’s a very strange idea to me.

Recorded On: 3/17/08