On Angry Writers

It's been years since I've read Friday Night Lights, but I still remember the feeling of reading it. I wasn't much of a serious reader back then--I mostly latched on to Stephen King novels and issues of Mad magazine, and FNL was one of the first books I remember reading in which sports was used as a proxy for addressing the issues of the real world.

I've never met Buzz Bissinger, but FNL was one of the books that led me to where I am today, and so I found this profile of him weirdly intriguing. In a way, I understand where he's coming from--his rants seem to embody the frustration and helplessness many of us who got into this business years ago, with a completely different idea of what good writing should be--and in a way, his approach seems purposefully unhinged. These are frightening times for writers, and Bissinger embodies that fear and anger, for better or worse. I suppose it's a more interesting way to go than just allowing the craft you love to gradually wither away.