Section 1, Part 2 Summary and Analysis

"The Writer on Holiday" In this essay, the author presents and develops the theory that as a group, writers are, in general, regarded by the public as a species of human being outside the norm, and uses the idea of the public perception of how a writer holidays as an example. First, he explores the idea of "the writer on holiday" by exploring its two mythic components - first, the idea of a "holiday", which he describes as a relatively recent invention in terms of European cultural history, and also as the product of the bourgeoisie (working classes). Second, he explains that most members of those classes perceive writers as taking their work with them always and everywhere - that even on a beach or in a hotel they are constantly writing, revising, and thinking. In other words, the...