On the esteem of literary critics:

> the applause of people whose esteem is often not worth the winning

*Robert Service*

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> the admiration for an extinguish foe that a guilty victor is permitted to feel

*Tom Zoellner*

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"... even though they liked having us around, young cute stoned warm faggots that we were, in the end it was the drugs they wanted at the party."

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A memoir of Susan Sontag makes the point that while much interest is focussed on her complicated personal life, her work must be of value for people to have an interest in that personal life. Therefore the attempt to trivialise an intellectual by looking at the sexual confusion of their personal life ultimately legitimises their relevance.

No-one wants to reveal the truth about irrelevance.

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A nice little interview with Mark Ruffalo that focusses on his initial stage career in L.A. and its influence on him and his politics.

He defends Hollywood and the movie industry and having arseholes as per any other industry but consequences that are far less drastic than the finance or the defence industry.