![]() Some do it at the gaming table, some do not. Gambling is not a vice, it is an expression of our humanness. ![]() The heroine of her latest novel is a croupier who sees life very much in terms of gambling: The overwhelming impression of her work is one of remarkable self-confidence, and she evidently thrives on risk. But one feels sure that the responsibility will not oppress her. Likewise, and for much the same reasons, such patronage could be a source of anxiety as well as encouragement for Jeanette Winterson. When Gore Vidal declares that the twenty-nine-year-old British novelist Jeanette Winterson is “the most interesting young writer I have read in twenty years”-words that her publishers predictably quote at every opportunity-one sits up and takes notice because he is laying his own literary judgment as well as her merit on the line. They are always interventions in literary politics, attempts to influence literary taste, rituals of succession, and they carry an intriguing element of risk for both parties. Such gestures are disinterested only in a materialistic sense. ![]() One of the privileges of maturity and distinction in the world of letters is the power to bestow accolades on younger writers. ![]()
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