What’s so terrible about Sullivan’s saying that “HIV . . . made me a better and braver writer”? It seems to me that there’s a difference between that statement and the statement, “HIV made me the fine and fearless writer you have all come to know.” I would never write that I am a great writer or a good person; but I can think of personal experiences that I think have made me a better writer and person, and if I were writing about those experiences it would not seem to me boastful to say so.