LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The comments by Skip Press and Once_Born above — particularly “If [Hubbard] had stayed in the writing business instead, he would not have stood a chance in the more discriminating market for books.” — had me pretty convinced I was confusing two good stories by Hubbard with actual writing skill. Your point about empathy and insight nails the coffin shut on Hubbard the Great Writer — thanks for pointing it out.

These two powerfully written pieces, “Fear” and “Typewriter in the Sky” are notably stories of psychological horror and godlike control, and offer far more insight into Hubbard’s character than they do into his skill as a writer. He was pretty obviously writing about himself, always his favorite subject, and so he made the extra effort to make the stories shine.

Do you know how much Barbara (don’t know her maiden name, but I later knew her as Barbara Snader) contributed to Science of Survival when they were on their jaunt in Palm Springs?

Another thing about writing – half of writing is rewriting. Hubbard was too lazy (and had too short an attention span) to rewrite and too arrogant to believe he needed to finesse his work. Personally I don’t think he could’ve been a great writer. To be a great writer, one must have a mastery of the craft, but also empathy and insight, and the desire to speak one’s truth. If Hubbard had worked hard enough, he may have been able to master the craft (assuming he could put aside the arrogant belief that everything he wrote was gold right out of the typewriter), but he was incapable of true empathy (and therefore true insight; the ability to put ones’ self in another’s place), and he was a pathological liar. He lied even when there was no need for lying – when lying was actually NOT advantageous. “Typewriter in the Sky” was probably decent because there actually were elements of unabashed personal truth in it. But IMHO he could never have been “great.” Not in his chicken dung character.

And what about whispering to your daughters? Oh, never mind. They’ll just grow up to be women who’ll create engrams for the embryos in their wombs when they attempt to abort them with coathangers on a weekly basis. Forget about the daughters.

Great comment, Shanester. My sentiments exactly.

Oh yeah. When they talk about white people, they’re talkin’ ’bout me.