Guest Bloggers Don’t Get Any Bigger Than This!
In what has to be one of the greatest “Where are they now?” shockers in history, we recently received an email from Dante Alighieri himself! I have copied it below so that you don’t have to take my word for it:
Dear Chuck,
I am so glad to have found your blog! While I once enjoyed a labor of love with my writing, I discovered some time ago that the demand for mystic texts in Italian terza rima
has cooled off a bit. While I have since learned English, I just can't find the same muse that I once did.As demand for my work as a writer faded, I had to take another job to maintain my lifestyle….
That's how I wound up as a telemarketer living here in Boston. While it's not always bad, I just can't shake the feeling that I'm not playing to my strengths anymore…
Any advice?
Ciao,
Dante
In case you’ve never heard of Dante, let me help you out. Dante’s Inferno is a literary masterwork. Its imagery of hell shaped the work of other artists for centuries, and even today, the popular conception of hell is much more a work of Dante than it is of the Bible.
To put this into proper perspective, Dante is even more famous than blogger Seth Godin (hard to believe, I know).
I pulled this image from Dante’s Facebook.
Needless to say, I was shocked to learn that he is alive, in Boston, and bothering people on the phone.
Well, I wrote a reply, encouraging Mr. Alighieri to go with that feeling! There is no way that telemarketing is the best possible option for him. A foreign accent can be a huge barrier to getting sales over the phone, after all! As I had hoped, here is how he replied:
Chuck!
You are absolutely right! I should not settle for this anymore! I need to get back into writing, and I need to do it now!
Why don't I get things started by contributing to your site?!
I think it could be good. We'll call it, "The 9 Circles of Job Hell," and I can draw on some old stuff that I've done. Don't worry about it seeming derivative–I haven't written in a while, so no one will notice if I borrow from an old piece of mine.
Thanks in advance!
Dante
Well, I don’t have the heart to tell him that the whole “Inferno” thing is pretty well played out, but this is still quite an amazing honor for my little blog!
I’m expecting to receive a draft of his first post sometime tonight, and I hope to have it published by tomorrow. I can’t wait! Tune in tomorrow for the beginning of an exciting series here on IHYJ: “The 9 Circles of Job Hell!”
If you enjoy reading this blog, why not tip the author?
15 responses so far ↓
1 Melissa // Jul 30, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Ha!
Dante himself, huh? Well, I’ll be.
Can’t wait to see his two cents on job hatred.
2 icedragon // Jul 30, 2007 at 1:08 pm
if one day you receive an email from Jesus, you know you have made it in the blog world
Waiting impatiently for the Dante’s post . . .
3 Chuck Westbrook // Jul 30, 2007 at 1:12 pm
@Melissa– I know, neither can I!
4 Chuck Westbrook // Jul 30, 2007 at 1:13 pm
@Icedragon– lol
5 Rebecca Thorman // Jul 30, 2007 at 1:50 pm
I laughed out loud. GREAT, CLEVER, and CREATIVE marketing. Can’t wait for the post.
6 Chuck Westbrook // Jul 30, 2007 at 1:58 pm
@Rebecca– I know! Dante sure has picked a slick way to make his resurgence. ; )
7 Peggy // Jul 30, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Wow….this blog has really made the rounds! I sure would like to have a chat with Dante to see who has “dropped in” on him over the past few years…..
Ice Dragon….good one
8 Chuck Westbrook // Jul 30, 2007 at 3:22 pm
@Peggy– Thanks for stopping by!
9 Jonathon // Jul 30, 2007 at 7:06 pm
I too laughed out loud, several times. I can’t wait for more of Dante’s musings. I am literally on the edge of my seat. Literally.
10 Chuck Westbrook // Jul 30, 2007 at 7:33 pm
@Jonathon and Rebecca– I really appreciate the kind words. I think this series is going to be a lot of fun.
11 Betsy // Jul 31, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Dear Dante,
You got my attention and stirred my imagination with your blog appearance. I think you should be a comedy writer. Who knew?
12 Chuck Westbrook // Jul 31, 2007 at 12:43 pm
@Besty– Thanks for the visit, stay tuned!
13 Dave C. // Nov 11, 2007 at 2:33 am
Wow! I had Jason Calcanis post on my blog once, but this is way bigger. Nicely done.
14 Baby, it’s just business » The 9 Circles of Job Hell: Dante Hates Your Job // Nov 12, 2007 at 1:38 pm
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15 jess // Mar 18, 2008 at 11:50 am
WoW lyk dis is real ur tellin me dante is still alive helz no….hahaha u wish he be mad old!!
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