Martin Amis and the pursuit of pleasure

There are clues in the article.

Wrote one of maybe the top four or five guides on how to play Space Invaders. What else do you want from a writer?

I recommend reading some of his books. They explain the reasons. He was an innovative and very readable writer.

He was part of the literary London set, a group of well-connected people who like to discuss their own lives, interests, and work on the pages of influential newspapers and magazines. His dad was a famous writer, which must have been a blessing (access to the literary and publishing world without the drudge of having to wait to be discovered) and a curse (the inevitable imposter syndrome). I think they admired his style, his ability to survive as a writer, and his legend (e.g. allegedly running an escort agency from his flat).

I don’t know about the others, but I love Julian Barnes because his writing profoundly affects me every time I encounter it.

Was he born of an elite family?

Edit: “Barnes was born in Leicester, although his family moved to the outer suburbs of London six weeks afterwards. Both of his parents were French teachers.” [0]

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Barnes

Honestly, this dismissive comment helped me formulate a thing in my mind.

So, as a Black American, I do believe it's important to hear from the voices of people who are suffering.

That being said, I find that, unfortunately, that market-in-books tends to really lean into the suffering, and I say it's important to consider the extent to which that might weigh down the writing and the reading experience.

This is the primary reason I bristle at the idea of "getting away from e.g. white male writers." There, of course, is nothing inherently better about them; but our unfortunate social / cultural / historical filters have made it so that (easily findable) writing that is free from certain kinds of suffering comes from them -- and sometimes you need that too.

Even a person born into wealth may occassionally be genuinely talented. Not every artist/author is a struggling youth living in a cardboard box.

There is also a load of trust fund babies that no one has ever heard about.