Meta: A self-diagnosis

The prognosis is uncertain

As a matter of principle, I object to meta but can’t avoid it. Even worse, I’ve sought it out.

I’m not referring to the social media platform.

By meta, I’m referring to content that refers to or deals with its own category.

You know what I’m talking about:

• Books about books or authors (I devoured Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft)

• Movies about movies

• Substacks about Substacks (no offense to anyone who’s written those)

The more I examine myself, it’s obvious my anti-meta stance is profoundly hypocritical.

Meta as a physician

In my day job as an academic physician, I frequently read meta-analyses, which are scientific analyses of scientific analyses. With the volume of research having exploded even before the emergence of AI-fueled paper mills, many questions are best addressed with a rigorous, quantitative assessment of multiple studies.

For example, this meta-analysis of 12 clinical trials found that lowering blood pressure with medications reduces the risk of developing dementia or cognitive impairment.

And here’s a meta-analysis of studies on the correlation between reading habits and social cognition.

The sheer tonnage of research is so far beyond our ability to assimilate that now we have meta-analyses about meta-analyses.

Argh!

Meta as a writer

My meta-hating hypocrisy has been deepened by reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which I wager is among the most meta of novels. I welcome any commentary to the contrary.

Guernsey is the type of book my wife likes. In fact, I borrowed it from her because I wanted to read novels in the epistolary format.

Epistolary = written as a series of letters, emails, text messages, etc.

Not only is Guernsey fully epistolary, it’s also head-spinningly meta.

✅ It’s a book about an author

✅ The author writes and receives letters

✅ The letters are about a book club

But, but, but! I enjoyed it. Some of the lines are laugh-out-loud funny in how the narrator opines on the quirky characters she meets.

So whenever I rant against meta, I’ll remind myself of Guernsey and this newsletter.

Now, enough writing about writing. It’s time to write.

—Kevin