--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Literary dementia seems dated now, but…" description: "\"Literary dementia seems dated now, but there was a time when a month in the funny farm was as de rigueur for budding writers as an M.F.A. is now. To be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/walter-kirn-2189_away_literary-dementia-seems-dated-now-but-th_3009178.png" --- # Literary dementia seems dated now, but there was a time… ![“Literary dementia seems dated now, but there was a time when a month in the funny farm was as de rigueur for budding writers as an M.F.A. is now. To be sent away was a badge of honor; to undergo electroshock, a glorious martyrdom.” quote by Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/walter-kirn-2189_away_literary-dementia-seems-dated-now-but-th_3009178.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/walter-kirn-2189_away_literary-dementia-seems-dated-now-but-th_3009178.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f4/walter-kirn-2189_away_literary-dementia-seems-dated-now-but-th_3009178.png) > “Literary dementia seems dated now, but there was a time when a month in the funny farm was as de rigueur for budding writers as an M.F.A. is now. To be sent away was a badge of honor; to undergo electroshock, a glorious martyrdom.” [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literary circles once prized wild experiences like institutionalization, but now academic credentials dominate creative validation. **In simple terms:** Old wild experiences replaced by degrees. Key Takeaway Value authentic growth over status symbols. Themes literature validation culture Mood critical reflective Type cultural inspirational When to use this quote - writing programs - creative retreats - academic publishing Key Concepts sociology institutional critique Questions to Reflect On - What truly nurtures creative talent? - How do credentials influence artistic freedom? A Different Perspective Romanticizing past hardships can ignore their harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/away/) [Badge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/badge/) [Dated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dated/) [Dementia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dementia/) [Dementia Dated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dementia-dated-4817003/) [Electroshock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/electroshock-727925/) [Farm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farm/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Glorious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glorious/) [Honor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honor/) [Literary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary/) [Literary Dementia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-dementia-4817002/) [Martyrdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/martyrdom/) [Month](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/month/) [Month Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/month-funny-4817004/) [Now](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/now/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Sent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sent/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Undergo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undergo/) [Undergo Electroshock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undergo-electroshock-4817005/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The Electroshock Novelist: The Alluring Bad Boy of Literary England Has Always Been Fascinated by Britain's Dustbin Empire. Now Martin Amis Takes On American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-tanenhaus/the-electroshock-novelist-the-alluring-bad-boy-of-literary-england/) [Sam Tanenhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-tanenhaus/) > [Anyone who sets foot into the 'Watchmen' universe and isn't just a little nervous should be given a few days of electroshock therapy. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-michael-straczynski/anyone-who-sets-foot-into-the-watchmen-universe-and-isn-t-just-a/) [J. Michael Straczynski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-michael-straczynski/) > [I was afraid my family would lock me up and give me electroshock. I was a screaming queen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-baker/i-was-afraid-my-family-would-lock-me-up-and-give-me-electroshock-i/) [Gilbert Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-baker/) > [“They worried that I spent too much time alone, clinging to the notion that socializing was therapeutic. So was electroshock, I reminded them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/they-worried-that-i-spent-too-much-time-alone-clinging-to-the-notion/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“Working simultaneously, though seemingly without a conscience, was Dr. Ewen Cameron, whose base was a laboratory in Canada's McGill University, in Montreal. Since his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-hersha/working-simultaneously-though-seemingly-without-a-conscience-was-dr/) [Cheryl Hersha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-hersha/) > [“They didn’t live anymore in a world where life was to be colorful and celebrated. Life had become something you clung to, that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/they-didn-t-live-anymore-in-a-world-where-life-was-to-be-colorful-and/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [“You undergo your own incarceration. You may witness your demise piece by piece. 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You must undergo it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/you-cannot-create-experience-you-must-undergo-it/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Though it's harder to justify the use of a cadaver for practicing nose jobs than it is for practicing coronary bypasses, it is justifiable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/though-it-s-harder-to-justify-the-use-of-a-cadaver-for-practicing/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) > [“You can't create experience, you undergo it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/you-can-t-create-experience-you-undergo-it/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“Greatness must be hatched and undergo changes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ikechukwu-joseph/greatness-must-be-hatched-and-undergo-changes/) [Ikechukwu Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ikechukwu-joseph/) ## More by Walter Kirn > [Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-it-s-someone-else-s-witch/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“I just wasn't ready for his stories. 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