“I was too much of a Bronx kid to read Emerson or Hawthorne.”
“Dad said I would always be "high minded and low waged" from reading too much Ralph Waldo Emerson. Maybe he was right.”
“Concord is a classic land. The names of Emerson and Thoreau and Channing and Hawthorne are associated with the fields and forests and lakes and rivers of this township.”
“He closed his grade book and asked hopefully, "What inspired you? Was it Hawthorne?"I stared at him. He had to be kidding.”
“That's absurd," I said with a little laugh. "Nobody can read too much. That's like saying someone breathes too much.”
“I hope you enjoy reading my book as much as I didn’t enjoy writing it. Just kidding! I hope you don’t enjoy it at all.”