ABSTRACT
For quite some time now, I have been envious of a male colleague whose capacity for saying “no” to service work borders on the pathological: “No, I don’t direct master’s theses.” “No, I won’t mentor that student; he has nothing new to say.” “No, I won’t serve on that committee; it requires too much of my time.” I envy him for a number of reasons, not the least of which is his unfaltering belief in the value of his own literary scholarship: it is far too important to the profession for him to waste (or be expected to waste) time on anything else.
