Umm, what does all this have to do with ...
... granting something other than 'exclusivity' to Wm Clark Associates?
One: I did not, as HapiSofi seems to think, mean to imply that Wm Clark should have gotten back to me faster, ignoring his current clients in the process.
[i.e. "Someday, when you're the client of a literary agency, you'll think it's entirely right and proper for them to put almost all their effort into their existing clients, and to deal with the slush on an "as possible" basis."]
My question was, since such a long time passed between my original query and the request for a partial, and other agents already were considering it, what could I do about his preference for exclusivity?
Two: I understand where Aascher585 is coming from regarding popular culture, but I find his comments about "Crap Artists" out of line here.
[i.e. "That this is a natural and perhaps inevitable consequence of creating such artifacts in a capitalist mass society doesn't change the fact that, the last time I looked, 99.8% of the product of the publishing process in "the Western World" is CRAP, the people who make it are CRAP ARTISTS, and the middlemen (agents) who promote it are CRAP MEISTERS."]
This is because -- hey -- I am a writer who is looking to entertain first. If I can slip in some education while the reader isn't paying attention -- great. But I'm not looking to write the Great American Novel That Will Cause Millions to Weep, Reflect, and Devote Themselves to World Peace. I appreciate it when I read a novel and, hours later, I realize that has taken me out of my world/worries for a while.
ANYWAY -- back to my original question regarding Wm Clark. Perhaps I can offer him 'exclusivity' regarding the rest of the manuscript, if he so desires?