‘Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,” wrote Robert Browning, “or what’s a heaven for?” Fair enough, but should a writer’s ambition surpass his ability?
In the mid 20th century, such major writers as Norman Mailer, Susan Sontag, and Kurt Vonnegut had a common idée fixe: Each was bent on the prospect of penning the next Great American Novel, a worthy follow-up to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, and The Sun Also Rises. Yet, no matter how long and hard they labored, such a work remained beyond their grasp; in fact, each proved more adept at writing almost anything other than traditional novels.
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