Mary Gaitskill: evaluation

Transcript context

…Why did you recently pause your Substack? Oh, because it was . . . Here’s the down part of it. To get the quick responses does supercharge my mind in a way that’s both good and bad. It’s stimulating, but sometimes it’s stimulating in a way that’s weird. It’s jangling. It’s almost like your brain electricity is crossed with other people’s, and it’s just too much, and it doesn’t have the grounding quality that it would if you were actually seeing those people and talking over drinks or something. There’s a physical reality that comes from just being with people, even if there’s a lot of stimulation. There’s something that’s hard to articulate. There’s an animal quality of comfort if you’re really with them. Even if you’re quarrelling with them, it’s still that grounded, real quality. You don’t have that when you’re just communicating online. It’s just this electrical connection, which is, to me, a little is jarring. I think it is for a lot of people. I thought maybe it’s just because I was old and not used to it, but when I published that — I needed to stop because I’m getting overstimulated — a lot of younger people, like former students, emailed me and said, “Yes, that’s how I feel. ” That surprised me. Why is Lolita such an intriguing novel for you?…

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