If you know what the whole point of the essay is 20% in--given your predilection for just getting to the point--should it not just end? This was one of the best articles I have read recently, and I honestly wish it had been longer... which means it served what it probably was actually intended to do: not communicate some point but serve as an advertisement for the author's book, the point of which I'd prefer not be spoiled by the trailer ;P.

> If you know what the whole point of the essay is 20% in--given your predilection for just getting to the point--should it not just end?

It's not about finishing at 20%, it's having an actual clue what the whole thing is approximately going to be about after 1000 words. If you can't even achieve that, this is just bad, random word salad disguising as an essay.

When you're writing holistically, the point often only comes at the end. Or, sometimes it's about the journey and the friends you make along the way.

A commentator upstream declared that there is only one purpose to writing: to impart information. I disagree strongly. That may be what that commentator expects from writing, but I'm in it for many possible things.

I like writing that tickles my fancy, or entertains. I like writing that teaches me something, even if it seems tangential to the purpose of the essay or book. I like writing that doesn't even try to teach me anything. I write a lot just to get my own thoughts clear---in my own head, not someone else's.

Not everything is for everyone, all of the time.

That's OK. You can just walk away, even without registering your opinion.

I think Justin's erudite and learned style provokes those who feel he thinks he's better than the reader. I've been reading him for a long time and nothing could be further from the truth. He just likes to write about things and sees connections where others would not.

Sometimes it takes a while to explain those connections.

I'm almost done with the book he wrote about. I quite like it and have learned a lot.

He’s not a wannabe. He’s a writer. Sometimes the journey is as important as the destination, more. Not all writing needs to follow an introduction, body, conclusion format, with topic sentences. It’s ok to write densely, allusively, to reward rereading.

> He’s not a wannabe. He’s a writer

Anyone can claim to be a writer. It does not take more than having a keyboard in front of you and lots of time.

> Sometimes the journey is as important as the destination, more.

You don't have to make the reader pain through your long and fastidious journey.

> Not all writing needs to follow an introduction, body, conclusion format, with topic sentences.

Indeed, but still writing is supposed to be more than just fluff that says nothing paragraph after paragraph. That's just filler content.

Anyone can claim to be a writer, but it seems obvious that he actually _is_ a writer. See: the book he wrote.

Writing also _can_ be more than just fluff, but it doesn't need to be. It may not be your style, but long form, not-concise content has it's place. See: The New Yorker, etc.

I don't disagree with the feedback that it's rambling; for some, that destroys the value, while for others that's the point.

It's also an interesting representation of a topic he touches on; that social media has turned everything in to bite-sized nuggets of insight with no meat around them, that nobody – not even literary reviewers – have the patience to sit down and fully digest anything longer than a simple blog post length summary.

I almost feel like we didn't read the same article. I felt like the author spoke very simply. He just didn't have a clear point he was trying to express, which I believe is valid criticism.

Given that his book is plugged in the first line, I figure this article is intended simply to advertise more copies of his book. While it does have interesting nuggets of knowledge, such as the initially unimpressive teenager having the most engaging questions, it is competing with many more compelling reads.