These People All Know Each Other

At a book launch party I attended with a handful of Merion West editors and writers not long ago, they were all there: The people I had followed on Twitter for the better part of a decade, writers whose columns I had forwarded to friends since college, familiar faces from the podcast circuit. It was much the same at another party I attended not long after—and seems to be the case more and more. Now that Merion West has been around for nearly a decade, many of these commentators I see at events such as these have interacted with the magazine once or twice. They have joined me or one of our contributing editors for an interview, submitted an article, or politely declined an email request to weigh in on an issue of their expertise. But more than that I recognized them, they all seemed to recognize each other, embracing instead of shaking hands, asking if they plan to attend such-and-such event the following month. I know what they mean now when they say “the circles are small.”

Charles Krauthammer used to pride himself on not going to cocktail parties, instead preferring to be at home with his wife quietly reading, writing, doing whatever. And he was probably better for it. The more I watch the collegiality on display at various forums and events, the more I imagine how difficult it must be to respond dispassionately to the ideas or the works of other members of the scene. As such, I have to think—as unoriginal a thought as it is—that those writers who remain something of outsiders really do retain an advantage when it comes to writing as truthfully as possible.

Now surely, having close relationships with fellow writers or commentators can have its benefits. Just as Saul Bellow would help a then-largely unknown writer named Cormac McCarthy secure a MacArthur Fellowship, which provided McCarthy the money he needed to research Blood Meridian, writers today recommend their friends (and friends of friends) for positions or to editors. This gives them a foot in the door they would likely not otherwise have or puts them on the right person’s radar. This is all the more important for up-and-coming young writers. The right introduction or mentor can make the difference between being a prodigy that didn’t pan out or becoming a respected author. (1)