A small desk and chair beneath a glowing lamp, with paper, a pen and a dark coat hanging beside them against deep blue.

Original artwork, not a still

Shopgirl

Steve Martin

If writing is so solitary, why are there so many people to thank?

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker mocks the idea of writing as a lonely act by pointing to the long list of gratitude that usually follows it. If the work happened in solitude, the crowd of helpers seems suspicious. The question is a wry way of saying books rarely get made alone.

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