I own your birthplaces, author types

Because I am so interested in you and your histories! Charles McGrath writes:

That we tend to fetishize writers’ residences is a little odd to begin with. By and large the same fuss doesn’t get made over places where artists have lived, and yet you could argue that an artist’s surroundings have more bearing on his work. But birthplaces themselves are an even odder subcategory, certainly less interesting, in general, than the houses where writers have actually worked.

This is one of those things I don't really get, as I'm not particularly interested in author's lives. I like my celebrities and heroes up on pedestals, thank you very much, and the more I know about their lives and habits and drug problems the less I respect their work.

That said, there is something weird about the fuss we make over birthplaces versus adult abodes of writers. Adult homes are where authors chose to be inspired, as opposed to where their parents decided to pop them out. Luckily, McGrath writes:

Nobody is born at home anymore, and who would want to make a literary pilgrimage to a hospital?