It’s something like the uncanny valley. I can happily read writers whose work has nothing in common with mine, but when we’re essentially playing the same game…not so much.
The uncanny valley – that’s exactly what it is! If they are already dead then they are “precursors” and sources of allusion, but living literary shadows are danged uncomfortable (especially when they are superior to oneself).
Alec Nevala-Lee 
I first read a few lines of Carol Ann Duffy in a bookstore recently, and she was so good that I thought, “Oh dang, now I have to go kill this lady.”
sparksmcgee
January 25, 2013 at 1:12 pm
It’s something like the uncanny valley. I can happily read writers whose work has nothing in common with mine, but when we’re essentially playing the same game…not so much.
nevalalee
January 26, 2013 at 11:54 am
The uncanny valley – that’s exactly what it is! If they are already dead then they are “precursors” and sources of allusion, but living literary shadows are danged uncomfortable (especially when they are superior to oneself).
sparksmcgee
February 13, 2013 at 12:49 pm
It’s especially strong when they’re your own age, or, grrr, younger than you are.
nevalalee
February 14, 2013 at 10:52 am