I.M.P.: the Isabel Paterson story. Pt. 2: success, power, and fame!(Short story)

THE TERROR OF THE NEW YORK LITERARY SCENE ARRIVES AT YET ANOTHER INDUSTRY "TEA SOCIAL" ...

WHERE'S THE TEA? ALL I SEE IS BOOZE!

THE TERM "TEA SOCIAL" IS JUST A EUPHEMISM, PAT ...

THERE'S ISABEL PATERSON. I'M AFRAID OF HER.

YOU, JOHN O'HARA ARE AFRAID OF THAT LITTLE THING?

SURELY YOU JEST!

I KNOW! BUT I STILL WANT TEA!

HAVE YOU EVER HAD ANYTHING REVIEWED BY HER?

SHE DOESN'T MINCE WORDS WHEN SHE FIND FAULT IN YOUR WORK ...

HER COMMENTS CUT LIKE A KNIFE--ESPECIALLY WHEN SHE'S RIGHT!

OH! LITTLE SANDWICHES

I LOVE THESE!

HIYA, PAT! REMEMBER ME?

I DO NOT SO I ASSUME YOU'RE A LITERARY AGENT.

R-RIGHT YOU ARE, HEH-HEH...

SAY, HOW'D YOU LIKE A COPY OF MY CLIENT'S LATEST BOOK?

YOU'RE VERY KIND. BUT I ALREADY HAVE A BOOK.

I, UH... HUH?

--PAT! WHY HAVEN'T YOU SIGNED OUR PETITION?

IT DEMANDS THAT UPTON SINCLAIRE BE GIVEN THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE ...

EVERYONE'S SIGNED IT--EVEN ALBERT EINSTEIN!

I HAVE AN EVEN BETTER IDEA ...

LET'S SEND EINSTEIN A PETITION DEMANDING HENRY FORD BE GIVEN THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR PHYSICS!

... B-BUT FORD ISN'T A PHYSICIST ...

PRECISELY.

SO YOU DON'T THINK SINCLAIR CAN WRITE. HA HA, VERY FUNNY ...

AND I SEE YOU STILL FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT GERTRUDE STEIN ...

YOU EVEN DESCRIBED HER WORK AS "INFANTILE."

IF A BABY COULD WRITE A BOOK, I'M SURE IT WOULD BE AS EGOTISTICAL AS "THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALICE B. TOKLAS" ...

BESIDES, GOOD WRITING IS ALL ABOUT CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORDS, YET STEIN ROUTINELY CHOOSES THE WRONG WORDS.

=GASP!=

HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT ABOUT SOMEONE WHO'S NURTURED THE ENTIRE LOST GENERATION?!

THE "LOST GENERATION" ... SIGH ...

I WISH THEY REALLY WERE LOST ...

I BET NO ONE WOULD GO LOOKING FOR THEM ...

?!?

Y-YOU'RE THE MOST HORRIBLE PERSONA I'VE EVER MET!

DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE OF THESE LITTLE SANDWICHES? I DO LOVE THEM SO ...

(SEE WHAT I MEAN?)

ANOTHER LATE NIGHT WORK/TALK SESSION BETWEEN I.M.P. AND HER FRIEND AND CONFIDANT, HUMORIST WILL CUPPY ...

"SIGH" ... MY YOUTH IS FADING FAST ...

NO MAN WILL WANT ME NOW ...

DON'T BE SILLY ...

MEN STILL FLOCK AROUND YOU LIKE MOTHS TO A FLAME.

THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE I CAN TALK ABOUT MEN THINGS.

"MORE PEOPLE SHOULD BE MORE INTERESTED IN MORE THINGS" ...

THAT'S YOUR MOTTO!

SPEAKING OF MEN, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THAT LONG-LOST HUSBAND OF YOURS?

WHO KNOWS. I MAY EVEN BE A WIDOW BY NOW ...

NOT THAT THERE WERE ANY HARD FEELINGS BETWEEN US ...

IT WAS MORE A CASE OF NO FEELINGS.

WHY DON'T YOU EVER FILE FOR A DIVORCE?

WHY, SO SOME NOSY JUDGE COULD GRILL ME ABOUT THE INTIMATE DETAILS OF MY PRIVATE...