1. @LeoJCarey said William Shawn "institutionalized procrastination" at the New Yorker. I have a story about that.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
2. January 1961, John Updike composes a little parody of Henry James's punctuation, sends to the New Yorker.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
3. Magazine accepts the piece, but says they will hold it in the bank of "casuals" that are not time-sensitive.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
4. Weeks go by, piece isn't printed. Months go by, piece isn't printed. Years go by, piece isn't printed. Decades go by....
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Replying to @HeerJeet
5. Flash forward to early 1980s: Updike is assembling his collection "Hugging the Shore" & decides he'll give piece "a decent burial" there
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Replying to @HeerJeet
6. Updike sends New Yorker a note that he's going to use the unpublished piece.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
7. New Yorker says, hold on a minute, let's take a look at that essay/parody again. They still like it.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
8. So New Yorker ends up running Updike's "Mild Complaint" in April 19, 1982 -- 21 years, 3 months, & 1 day after date of composition
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Replying to @HeerJeet
9. The moral of the story is if you are writing for William Shawn, be prepared to wait.
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10. This is tangential to the story but "Hugging the Shore" is Updike's finest collection of essays & reviews. 900 pages of intelligence.
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