Probably a lot of what we're talking about is context, of various kinds. Truism to say that if _________ came out with that poem/album/performance now, it wouldn't succeed.And it's true, a work has to be outrageously impressive to get heard, or read, without any background info. But look at us newer 'Catters: I'm sometimes taken aback when a posting contradicts the picture in my head of the writer. Art can conceal as much as it reveals.