People sometimes ask me how I got started in the writing racket. Sometimes they’re just curious. Sometimes they’re trying to figure out how to do it themselves. The short answer to the question is that I owe it all to the Unabomber. The long answer is to be found in my first published article, which appeared in McSweeney’s in 1999 and documents my long and fraught relationship with Ted Kaczynski. It turned out to be the lazy man’s way to getting published; after the article ran, all sorts of doors suddenly opened. I’m not recommending this method, but if you want to see how to get a serial killer to run interference for you, or if you’re just curious, you can read all about it right here.
