More on the above (or below)

Only hours after posting the preceding (or, screen-wise, following), I came across this, in the book I've been reading this afternoon ("Lost paradise", by Cees Nooteboom):

Writers were supposed to lead a paper existence -- between the covers of a book. You should not have
to be distracted by body odours, awful haircuts, bizarre footwear, unsuitable spouses, needles gossip,
professional jealousy, whorish behaviour, coquetry or boastfulness.

This refers to meeting writers in person, but it could apply to reading biographies as well. I don't know about "supposed" though. We can't help but wondering about artists' lives, I think, but maybe it's better just to wonder than to have the facts, or what passes as facts, laid out for us. Or not? Roth would seem to think so. Or is it Zuckerman? Another quandry.