Cult of personality is something we might not readily notice in our culture, but it is something more than prevalent. And I hate it. I’ve got a (likely) stupid pet peeve. When I was putting together my book, I saw a lot of author headshots. One thing I noticed about these headshots is that they presented many authors as sophisticated intellectuals. What I have noticed since that time is that if you do any type of creative work or are in a prominent position, your public relations team wants to present you in this same way. Very few people actually play out what this is presenting in their real lives. Maybe Nietzche always acted in this intellectual, thoughtful, brooding manner, but that may have just been because of his health issues. Everyone else is generally normal. Now, I don’t think there is an issue with looking good at certain times, but I think it is important to realize who these people are: just regular people, and cult of personality is not a good thing. If you enjoy this episode, here are some others you might find interesting: On Shakespeare, On Creating Art from Chaos, On Nihilism
Here are some author headshots that I don’t like:
Here is Michael Perry’s headshot (The first one is Michael Perry, but it was not the one I was talking about).
And here is Emily St. John Mandel’s.
Here is some stuff about Stephen King’s drug addiction (I am glad he is clean now).
One Last Toast for Ebenezer Fleet
Intro and Exit Music Credit: Brain-Eating Zombies from Area 51 by Moolen
If you have any issues with the player above, you can find the link to this episode here