Talk:Bruce Chatwin

Cite errors
There are numerous citation errors in the article due to the mix of citation styles. I have fixed some but can we please settle on one style and then the remaining errors can be resolved. - Sitush (talk) 19:06, 13 October 2018 (UTC)

Melly
I am a little curious regarding why Diana Melly's autobiographical work does not feature at all. She writes quite extensively about Chatwin and I think it deserves a mention in a Further reading section, if nothing else. - Sitush (talk) 19:08, 13 October 2018 (UTC)

Cult-like following

 * Quote: According to his biographer Nicholas Shakespeare, Chatwin's work developed a cult-like following in the years immediately after his death. By 1998 a million copies of his books had been sold. However, his reputation diminished following revelations ...

The expressions "cult following", "cult hero" and similar fill me with concern, almost every time I ever see them these days. The Wikipedia definition of "cult following" is "a small but very passionate fanbase"; however, it's usually used in the sense of an overnight sensation, ie. great popularity achieved suddenly (but not necessarily enduring popularity). This certainly seems to be the way it's used in the quote above. A million copies sold hardly suggests a small following, in anyone's language. For one's reputation to diminish from the literal meaning of "cult following" (a small following) would mean that one has sunk into oblivion and obscurity, and that's untrue of Bruce Chatwin. So, can we come up with more appropriate wording here? --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  22:24, 6 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Agree. "cult" primarily has the notion of "a system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object" (1st google search definition), the word "religiuous" is crucial i.e., could be irrational or group behaviour or organised. Even when the word is used by a biographer (raising the RS status?), we still don't know how the biographer meant it or concluded it. Then there is the word "-like", which reduces preciseness aka introducing safety-opt-out by the author. And "followers": how is that concluded? What meaning? (disclosure: I may feel personally attacked by this wording for appreciating Chatwin's work). -DePiep (talk) 10:05, 7 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Changed . ping  -DePiep (talk) 20:00, 23 March 2019 (UTC)