> What is unfortunate about this is that Alan is clearly in need of friends, but his abrasive manner would certainly be off-putting to the people around him. So

> What is unfortunate about this is that Alan is clearly in need of friends, but his abrasive manner would certainly be off-putting to the people around him. So he has to ask random strangers for feedback on his writing instead of his friends. He's also a clinical narcissist. I don't pay much attention to what psychologists think, but narcissists are easy to spot -- as far as they're concerned, everyone else is a refractory, inert obstacle standing in the way of their richly deserved public recognition as the greatest genius who ever lived. More on this topic: http://arachnoid.com/ChildrenOfNarcissus http://arachnoid.com/ChildrenOfNarcissus