There are all kinds of reasons to introduce two people. Maybe they would get along. Maybe they would have an interesting debate. Maybe they would fuck. Sometimes while I’m reading, I have a powerful desire to introduce the author to another author for some reason. Most recently, while reading John Haskell’s Out of My Skin, I kept wishing I were able to introduce him to Belgian author Jean-Philippe Toussaint. My reasons were for the similarity of their visions, and for the fact that both authors seem uninterested in disguising what seems like their authentic way of perceiving the world. More specifically, for Haskell’s benefit, I think he could learn from Toussaint something about creating characters whose extreme eccentricities do not completely overwhelm their believability as people.
But who knows? Maybe they would also fuck.