Author Inserts

So, according to certain schools of literary theory, you're supposed to either ignore the author completely, or stand at a remove from them. High fives, if they're really great authors, are generally the limit of appreciation one would express for the author. Otherwise, it's all about the work and (recently) its cultural significance.

However, I love author inserts, and I wish more books had them. It's how I fall in love with the author. It's a platonic love, one that's like, "I wish I could meet you. You're fantastic. I enjoyed your book, and even though some crabby people write books, I think the reason why this one is good is your awesomeness."

In books, these come in two forms. First, on the dust jacket will be a brief biographical blurb which was probably written by an editor. "Jesus R. Winchesterson enjoys long walks on the beach, pickles, and duck feathers. He wrote Moulin Rouge: The Space Opera and Reversing Entropy Through Spandex. Jesus lives in Muster, Nebraska with his dog Wuster Jackson and 3.5 potted plants." Then there's a more personal acknowledgements page in the front, where they thank everyone, like the graduate student that gave them that one idea, the coffee shop they always wrote in, their editor, the brats-that-wouldn't-shut-up-but-I-love-them-anyway, and the spouse who magically makes it all possible. I don't need any more than that. It's enough.

But they don't do the whole thing with older authors. Partly it is because they never really wrote a formal acknowledgements page, it being an invention of modern publishing. They just said in the work, "Virgil, Ovid, Omer, Boece, and Stace / Were really great writers who inspired me / It's the truth and I'll write more now kthxbai" (somewhere in Troilus and Criseyde, paraphrased). Then there are little things like sometimes not knowing the full biography, or not knowing how sure they can be about the biography. But those are little things. Certainly in many cases one can put something on the back sleeve of a dust jacket, or the back page of a book.

"Chaucer was born in the early 1340s. After a stint as a household servant in a duchess's household, including wartime service, he served as the king's servant. On ambassadorial duties, he has been to Italy, France, Spain, and the Low Country. He has also served in the port of London. Currently he is serving as Clerk to the King's Estate, and receives a jug of wine a day from the king for miscellaneous services rendered. During this career, he has found time to write translations, dream visions, and most recently the romance Troilus and Criseyde. He lives in an apartment in London with his wife Philippa and two children."