240
PARTISAN REVIEW
writer. Nevertheless, her economic problems might
be
said to
be
typical of
write~.
I realized, however, that what I found natural,
Intelligence would
be
bound to think suspicious. Above
all,
I did not
want to see Miss Caruso incriminated by what, after
all,
is the guilt
of
all
artists. On the other hand, suppose she actually were a foreign
agent, who used her literary activities as a mask for her true profes–
sion. I had to move warily.
"It's a complicated question," I continued.
He interrupted me.
"Would you say she lived well? Was her apartment expensively
furnished? Did she wear good clothes?" he asked.
"In a way," I replied, "she was not badly dressed. She lived
comfortably, I might say. But it is hard to tell since she did not dress
or live conventionally."
"Did she strike you as being poor?"
"Not in comparison with other writers."
He looked bafHed.
"Let me explain it this way," I said. "You see writers are dedi–
cated to their work. You might say they are obsessed--oh, like ex–
plorers, or saints, or witches. For the sake of their
art,
many of them
are ready to forego--at least while they are young-the comforts
and
pleasures the average person devotes his life to obtaining. Don't
mis–
understand me. Not all writers are poor, or want
to
be
poor. Some
eam fabulous sums; the others envy and resent them. And the distinc–
tion between the two is not always as clear as
it
might be. For while
successful writers are not necessarily the best ones, still it would
be
a mistake to equate talent with poverty. How do unpopular writers
live? Well, in a thousand and one ways. Some teach, or do some kind
of hack work, or have a private income, or marry a rich woman or
man--or sponge. Others simply do not have any visible means of
income, and are largely responsible for the general suspicion of
writers."
I saw that I was boring
him.
What I was saying did not appear
to
be
relevant, and therefore could not throw any light on the case.
Nor was it sufficiently profound to arouse his interest by obscuring
the case and adding to the air of mystery surrounding it.
"The question in your mind about Miss Caruso," I continued in
an effort to be more specific, "is whether she made enough money as
