The art of being Peter Schjeldahl

When Peter was diagnosed with cancer three years later, I assumed, with hindsight, that something had already been happening in his body that affected his emotional state. But of course, at the time, I had no way of knowing this (and still don’t). So how was I to respond? In one email, I speculated about the inherently performative nature of writing and how exhausting it can become. “Performance, yes,” he replied. “But never satisfaction. Finishing anything and applause both affect me in only one way: as relief at having dodged...