[okie01]

Where did he get the money to do act like one of the idle rich?

Publisher's advances.

Upon graduating from Harvard, he got a $40,000 advance for his very first ever book -- without any previous writings whatsoever to recommend him.

He failed to produce so much as a single page.

So, the publisher advanced him yet another $40,000. Whereupon he left his seat as guest lecturer at the Univ of Chicago, went to Bali for six months...and delivered a book.

I cannot tell you how implausible the publisher's actions are in this case. "Unprecedented" would be a good word.

And the chronology of events certainly leads one to wonder who else might've been in Bali at the time. A professional ghost writer, perhaps?

[dsc]

“Upon graduating from Harvard, he got a $40,000 advance for his very first ever book — without any previous writings whatsoever to recommend him.”

Yeah, that sort of thing is common. After graduating from the University of Colorado I got $80,000 from a publisher to write my memoirs.

Or...wait a minute...

Never mind.

[livius]

So, the publisher advanced him yet another $40,000. Whereupon he left his seat as guest lecturer at the Univ of Chicago, went to Bali for six months...and delivered a book...And the chronology of events certainly leads one to wonder who else might've been in Bali at the time. A professional ghost writer, perhaps?

Thanks for that information. I never see this mentioned anywhere, but it is certainly strange. He got a total of $80,000 in advances for a book, his autobiography, based on no prior writings and no accomplishments. Hmmm...