The excellent
New Yorker continues its literary war on the alcohol-as-muse delusion. In the Jan. 7 issue is a
thumbnail bio of Kahlil Gibran, author of the huge bestseller,
The Prophet. After the success of this book, Gibran took to drinking heavily. Eight years after
The Prophet, having produced nothing further of note, he died of cirrhosis of the liver, at age 48.
Though I doubt he is the type of writer the New Yorker would profile, if you read the biography of Ed Abbey, and are familiar with him otherwise, I believe you can piece together 2+2 to take a gander at what killed him. (Not too many things give you esophagal varisces.)
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