Why did you write Ishmael as a novel? And I can’t help adding — Does it disturb you that it’s taken on cult status?

If not a novel, then how? A scholarly work? For what scholars? (And I’m not a scholar.) If you go into a bookstore and look around for a model I MIGHT have followed (that wasn’t a novel), you’ll be hard-pressed to find one! I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “cult status.” My work hasn’t been adopted by any pre-existing cults that I know of. My guess is that you mean that people tend to form cults AROUND my work. That’s true—but people also form university courses and discussion groups around my work. In any case, I’m not at all disturbed.

DATE: 29 Jun 1997
UPDATE: 29 Jun 1997
ID: 172