Steve Almond takes a full six pages of precious Salon space to tear us into little pieces. We're flattered that he took so much trouble, even if there's scarcely an honest word in the thing.
Well, he was a writer, of course. You could tell this because there was a portable typewriter right next to him in his photo, which was taken outside. So he was clearly dedicated to his craft. But he was also a cool writer, the kind who wore a leather jacket and shades while hanging out next to typewriters outside.
Sarvas lived in Los Angeles and this meant he was a novelist and a screenwriter. Somehow, between novel drafts and pitch meetings, he managed to produce a blog that he had named, unpretentiously, the Elegant Variation.
His entries did not compose a meaningful discussion of literature -- few of the so-called lit blogs actually undertake such a thing. They were gossip items for the most part, links to articles, an occasional belch of schadenfreude. His prose style favored elevated diction, convoluted sentences, serial use of the royal "we" and, in an effort to convey a stream of consciousness ... lots ... of ... ellipses.
There's more like this. Lots more. We leave it to you to enjoy. We certainly did.
If you're stopping in for the first time via the Salon link, welcome. We hope you'll poke around through the archives and make your own decisions about what you find here. There are category links down the right side below our recommendations, which will bring up interviews, reviews, discussions - all those things litblogs don't provide. And, if in the end, you agree with Herr Almond, please check out the blogroll at left for sites that do it better, and vaya con dios! Peace out.
(Oh, Steve, as you're surely reading this, we make one minor distinction. We certainly don't hate you. We're, at best, indifferent to you. What we hate is your writing. Such as it is. We've actually got a soft spot for hacks, being one ourselves.)