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Bad luck Quote by Michael Chabon

“It was in this man's class that I first began to wonder if people who wrote fiction were not suffering from some kind of disorder--from what I've since come to think of, remembering the wild nocturnal rocking of Albert Vetch, as the midnight disease. The midnight disease is a kind of emotional…” quote by Michael Chabon
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““It was in this man's class that I first began to wonder if people who wrote fiction were not suffering from some kind of disorder--from what I've since come to think of, remembering the wild nocturnal rocking of Albert Vetch, as the midnight disease. The midnight disease is a kind of emotional insomnia; at every conscious moment its victim--even if he or she writes at dawn, or in the middle of the afternoon--feels like a person lying in a sweltering bedroom, with the window thrown open, looking up at a sky filled with stars and airplanes, listening to the narrative of a rattling blind, an ambulance, a fly trapped in a Coke bottle, while all around him the neighbors soundly sleep. this is in my opinion why writers--like insomniacs--are so accident-prone, so obsessed with the calculus of bad luck and missed opportunities, so liable to rumination and a concomitant inability to let go of a subject, even when urged repeatedly to do so.””

Michael Chabon

About This Quote

Source Essay: “The Midnight Disease” in The New Yorker, 2015

Writers often experience a restless, insomnia‑like mental state that fuels obsessive creativity but also hampers letting go.

In simple terms: Writers suffer a restless mental condition that drives both creativity and fixation.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and manage creative obsession.

Themes

creativity obsession mental health

Mood

introspective analytical

Type

literary essay philosophical

When to use this quote

  • writer’s block
  • creative burnout
  • night‑time work
  • self‑criticism

Key Concepts

emotional insomnia artistic drive rumination

Questions to Reflect On

  • How does this “midnight disease” affect your work?
  • Can you balance intensity with rest?
A Different Perspective

Obsessive focus can lead to burnout and missed opportunities.

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