Compay Segundo

Do you know Compay Segundo?



He's a Cuban dandy. He wore an immaculate suit every day. He smoked cigars for the majority of his life - and died of kidney failure.

About a month ago, I decided if I was ever a man, I'd like to be a dandy, just like Compay Segundo. I'd smoke myself silly and be generally AWESOME for all my years of life. That's the type of man I would be. AND NOW YOU KNOW.

While day-dreaming about being a Cuban dandy like dearest Compay, I came across an article on writing - specifically, why is it that most every athlete/rock star is allowed to gloat, boast, and have huge levels of arrogance, while writers are not?

Needless to say, I was most intrigued.

And I agree with the writer. Writer's should be allowed to gloat like billy goats over their achievements and shoot for the stars. IT'D BE FREAKIN' AWESOME. To quote the article:

So come on. Where's our literary Muhammad Ali telling us that he and Rushdie are going to get it on, cos they don't get along? Where's our Mr T yelling from the podium of the Booker stage: "I pity the fool who reads Naipaul! I pity the fool who reads Updike!" Where's Noel Gallagher's natural literary heir casually stating that they've done more for English-language fiction in the last five years than Bellow and Roth in the last 50?

YEAH. Where is some random wannabe writer somewhere stating, with obvious bravado, "The Catcher in the Rye? PUH-LEEZE. Catch-22? WHATEVER. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? DON'T EVEN TRY, BUDDY. My new novel will blow all of those out of the water. It will be the book that defines a generation, NAY, A CENTURY. It's the best thing since THE BIBLE."

I think it'd be funny, you know? Also sort of annoying, because part of what makes writers so interesting is the fact that they tend not to act like their shiz is the shiz.