People don't read, and publishers often never make a penny. "I'm lucky to make a living doing this," Walter would say. The truth was that his money - and writing empire - came from the children's books and smart investments from Dr. Linkman, and then the fame of being a young writer, the good marketing about his youth aiding it the whole way. When he was 17 he was the new S.E. Hinton or a young Thoreau. When he was 22 a young xx. Since 25 he was poised to be the next Updike. With the flop of his fourth novel, he was no one except the famous young author now dating Marie, the music mogul and heiress to some Egyptian hotel chain.