This quote posted on kottke.org:

But with all due respect for their ability, it must be said that, after all, they wrote only as onlookers, as observers. They were not tramps themselves, in the real sense of the word. In “The Children of the Abyss” Jack London relates that when he stood in the breadline, he had money, a room in a good hotel, and a change of linen at hand. He was therefore not an integral part of the underworld, of the homeless and hopeless.

Reminded me of this Pulp lyric from “Common People”:

But still you’ll never get it right, ‘cause when you’re laid in bed at night, watching roaches climb the wall, if you call your dad he could stop it all.

# 2008 Jan 18