That wasn’t the whole of my argument, as clearly imputed with the Updike and Stoppard examples that Ms. Young herself uses. I don’t accept Updike, Stoppard and Chabon as fan fiction (like you apparently do), because there are deeper thematics and characterizations (often elaborations on other characters) that clearly go beyond the morass I qualify as “fan fiction” (see Young, Cathy above) and into the realm of LITERATURE! It is reasonable to reference culture in fiction, particularly when in the public domain, but my own view is that there must be a deeper grounding initiated by the author. It is despicable (and illegal) to juxtapose characters from television shows into lackluster narratives. It is laudable when one does something with it to create a grander meditation (such as Tom Carson’s GILLIGAN’S WAKE, which I don’t view as “fan fiction,” although by your terms certainly could be).

DS implicitly addressed your argument by addressing the flaw in it, which was, namely, that listing the flaws inherent in fanfiction (“stealing copyrighted work and perpetrating bad grammar “) does not mean that fanfiction does not have literary value. Such value would be apparent in Chabon’s The Final Solution, which is both an acceptable Sherlock Holmes pastiche and a meditation on what life means as one approaches death.

I’ve presented an argument. I’m assuming you’re happily listening. Stop being so touchy, Doris.

As to my “altar ego” and related topics, obviously you’ve never heard of irony. Long-time readers are aware that “Ed Champion” is a fabricated sobriquet and that these musings come from a 54 year old botanist named Doris Entwhistle, who I pay quite well.

This is all just to say that “Darby Suckling”, whoever he or she is, definitely owns you in the comment numbered “3″, and it would be honest of you, and nice of you, to admit the fact. So touchy!

1. Awkward repititions:

“…an unsettling choice at your karaoke bar of choice”

2. Nonsense usages:

“comprehensible to your life”

3. Nonparallel structures:

” ‘writers’ who labor over bad prose describing Kirk schtupping Spock and writers like Stoppard offering [try "who offer"] a witty and separately realized tale of two overlooked bumblers”

4. Mangled idioms:

“I advise novice writers to toil at such infecundities at their own peril.” [You advise them to do what precisely?]