A Geek's Life

Thinker-at-Large/ public intellectual, Alan Jacobs, (my description, though I suspect he might shudder to think of himself as one) reflects on the cost of having been everywhere, which in the main is that though he has written nearly 20 books now, not one of them is the book he really wanted to write. In his telling, this has come from being “attentive to the character of the publishing house or periodical [he] hope[s] to write for” and “[shaping] each one to make them more appealing to editors”.

Perhaps there is a benefit, in addition to the cost, of being everywhere if done right. By right in this context, I mean just enough accommodation to translate/ tune one’s core ideas for different groups. N.T (Tom) Wright manages to strike this balance in my view with his academic (N.T.) vs general audience (Tom) works. I would argue Alan Jacobs, at least for me, has managed to do that too.

As someone who was drawn in by How To Think, and then stayed for the curious mix of Anglophilia, Anglicanism and interesting football (soccer) takes, I for one am glad for the editorial accommodation which allowed that book be published. It ended up being the gateway to a rich seam of thought and writing, not all of which I agree with of course.

Written as part of the JulyReply series