The Rise of the M.B.A. Novelist

A generation ago, the image of a writer might call to mind a literary ascetic, a Hemingway-esque figure hunched over a manuscript in the deep dark woods, untouched by the workaday concerns of fellow man. Today’s writers are—often by economic necessity—built differently. Of course, some writers have sold insurance or inspected potato chips to make ends meet, but increasingly they take their day jobs seriously. Increasingly, they may not identify as writers exclusively. They may even have business degrees.