Mike: literary icon or mildly prosperous columnist?

[dreadedcandiru2]

howtheduck raised a good point on his blog today when he discussed the ramifications of the only people who seem interested in Mike's book being the Pattersons and their hangers-on. It may well be that Lynn does not intend the novel to be the insane success that Mike's dreams would make it. His path may lead elsewhere for the simple reason that to be a big-time successful novelist, he'd have to spend far too much time away from home. To a woman with as great a love of being tied down to the familiar as Lynn seems to have, a nomadic experience like that is the worst thing in the world. Fortunately, she's provided Michael with a way out of that horror; he writes a column about the ups and downs of suburban life for the weekly paper Elly used to work for. If the strip continued, we could well expect to see a forty-year old Mike happily slaving away at his keyboard writing his weekly column and good-naturedly shaking his head about his delusions of literary grandeur. A Mike with a day-to-day job like that would be a far better son than the selfish fool who wanted to go on the road all the time.

Comments

[howtheduck.livejournal.com]

This may be a subtle thing, but there is some kind of coffee thing going on in the background behind Mike's signing table in today's strip. There used to be coffee and pastries in the shop when it was owned by Lily Petrucci, which Elly removed when she took over. The presence of a place for food may imply that Moira Kinney has returned Lilliput's back to its coffee and pastry roots, and may also include some books for adults, who might be inclined to have coffee and pastries in a book store.

[dreadedcandiru2.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. I'd almost forgetten about Elly's removal of the coffee corner. I shouldn't have because it's yet another example of her inability to see things from any other perspective than her own. Since she doesn't associate coffee machines and danishes with bookstores, they must be banished so that the external world conform to and confirm her image of it.