Vices vs. Olé

“I slam my fist on the table. ‘We need a book about the 7 Vices of Highly Creative People before the whole country ends up in a straitjacket!’ Bobby agrees enthusiastically, grabs a stack of napkins and begins writing. All the years we’ve spent studying history and literature are finally paying off. It isn’t easy. But after six hours and five pitchers we finish the job.”

From the opening to one of Salon‘s most popular essays, “The 7 Vices of Highly Creative People” by poet, author, and playwright D.A. Blyler.

(via Metafilter user The Devil Tesla, who cleverly offers Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talk on nurturing creativity as a much needed counterbalance.)

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Isaac Fitzgerald has been a firefighter, worked on a boat, and was once given a sword by a king, thereby accomplishing three out of five of his childhood goals. Formerly of The Rumpus and McSweeney’s and most recently the founding editor of BuzzFeed Books, Isaac is now the co-host of BuzzFeed News’ Twitter Morning Show, #AMtoDM. He also appears frequently on The Today Show to talk books, and is co-author of Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them and Knives & Ink: Chefs and the Stories Behind Their Tattoos (with Recipes) (winner of an IACP award), and the author of a YA novel and picture book forthcoming from Bloomsbury. He uses Twitter.

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The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, essays, book reviews, and interviews with authors and artists of all kinds. Our mostly volunteer-run magazine strives to be a platform for risk-taking voices and writing that might not find a home elsewhere. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers our readers may already know and love. We want to bring new perspectives into the conversation that will make us all look deeper.

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