Truth first

Sally Field gave one of the most famous Oscar acceptance speeches in history when she cried, "You like me!!!"  I think it has become famous because it was so honest and vulnerable. 

Most artists want to be liked, or at least they want their work to be liked.  Yet art is also the pursuit of truth, or insight; art provokes as often as it pleases.  Sometimes approval and truth are found along the same road, but often they're not.

One of the most memorable critiques I ever got came from a writer w...