It's revealing that Wells made this letter to Joyce and not the other way around. To the artist, the audience only becomes important when they're either a patro

It's revealing that Wells made this letter to Joyce and not the other way around. To the artist, the audience only becomes important when they're either a patron or a subject. And, even then, they often don't matter much. But, to Wells, the audience is the purpose - and his work, a product. To consume art is to allow oneself to momentarily seep into the mind of another. And, if done with 'soul' unshielded and open, it's one of the most intimate actions possible for a sentient being like a Human who is eternally imprisoned within a vessel of imperfect sensors. Joyce is an artist. And, to read him - well, the experience may not be enjoyable - it may actually be uncomfortable, painful or even bizarre or alien. But, it's what he is.