Jonathan Maas
asked
Jennifer Wright:
Jennifer - just got done with your incredible, 5-star-worthy 'It Ended Badly.' One theme in the book is 'historical sociopathic narcissists.' Particularly Norman Mailer. My question - do you think there is value to his abhorrent sociopathy? I think of Gauguin, who ghosted his wife and five kids in Denmark to go to Tahiti, and then ghosted his wife there later. But now we have Gauguin, and Mailer. Is it worth it?
Jennifer Wright
I'm going to go ahead and say: not to their wives and kids.
That said, yeah, I think it we were judging life based solely on how much work a person could produce there would be a pretty considerable benefit to being a sociopath. I'd say I spend about 25% of my waking hours worried about other people in some way -- whether it's being concerned about my loved ones, or upset about the news, or feeling anxious about whether people like/will like or respect me. Honestly, 25% is probably a low estimate. There are definitely times when I lie awake at night thinking about something embarrassing I said at a party years ago when I think it would be GREAT to be a sociopath. If I didn't care about anyone else's opinion of me it would free up a lot of time in my life that I currently spend fretting and... I guess I'd use it to get more work done. If I was talented, as Mailer and Gauguin were, I imagine it would also be very good work.
But here's the thing -- I think I'd no longer be able to do the kind of work I currently like doing. I try to write books that are for other worried people. The pleasure I derive from writing is largely from hearing that the books I write made other people happy, or feel less alone. If I were a sociopath I think the joy of creating work like that would be eliminated. I simply wouldn't really care about anyone else's feelings. So I'd probably write very different books that were perhaps more attuned to making money or enhancing my glory or something else that would be of more immediate benefit to me.
I also feel that everyone, on some level, creates in a way that reflects their own mindset and worldview. It's not surprising that a lot of Norman Mailer's work seems like it's about how much fun it would be to be a white male sociopath (and, again, yeah, it seems like those guys are really free). Gauguin talked about how he wanted to paint people in their savage state, which he saw in himself. I don't see that in myself. My paintings would be about, like, a lady who is visibly concerned her dog is sick. I see the world as a fretful place where people are concerned with others, and I want to speak to people who share that mentality.
So I guess this very long response can be summed up by saying: IDK! Maybe? BUT MAYBE NOT.
That said, yeah, I think it we were judging life based solely on how much work a person could produce there would be a pretty considerable benefit to being a sociopath. I'd say I spend about 25% of my waking hours worried about other people in some way -- whether it's being concerned about my loved ones, or upset about the news, or feeling anxious about whether people like/will like or respect me. Honestly, 25% is probably a low estimate. There are definitely times when I lie awake at night thinking about something embarrassing I said at a party years ago when I think it would be GREAT to be a sociopath. If I didn't care about anyone else's opinion of me it would free up a lot of time in my life that I currently spend fretting and... I guess I'd use it to get more work done. If I was talented, as Mailer and Gauguin were, I imagine it would also be very good work.
But here's the thing -- I think I'd no longer be able to do the kind of work I currently like doing. I try to write books that are for other worried people. The pleasure I derive from writing is largely from hearing that the books I write made other people happy, or feel less alone. If I were a sociopath I think the joy of creating work like that would be eliminated. I simply wouldn't really care about anyone else's feelings. So I'd probably write very different books that were perhaps more attuned to making money or enhancing my glory or something else that would be of more immediate benefit to me.
I also feel that everyone, on some level, creates in a way that reflects their own mindset and worldview. It's not surprising that a lot of Norman Mailer's work seems like it's about how much fun it would be to be a white male sociopath (and, again, yeah, it seems like those guys are really free). Gauguin talked about how he wanted to paint people in their savage state, which he saw in himself. I don't see that in myself. My paintings would be about, like, a lady who is visibly concerned her dog is sick. I see the world as a fretful place where people are concerned with others, and I want to speak to people who share that mentality.
So I guess this very long response can be summed up by saying: IDK! Maybe? BUT MAYBE NOT.
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