“...The verses of Byron, Keats or Poe are real whether they are in bootleg form or not. You can still read them for the same effect.”

“Wondering whether Christianity is real is not the same as wondering whether Christianity is true. If you question the truth of Christianity, you can do something tangible about it. You can read books, take a class, or talk to someone about it. But what can you do when you're already convinced it's true but don't experience it as real?”

“Other nights, Ayrs likes me to read him poetry, especially his beloved Keats. He whispers the verses as I recite, as if his voice is leaning on mine.”

“That is the way convince people. Or change them and prevent them from hurting whether themselves and others. Art is the most effective form of communication.You can use it to lift the human spirit and make them understand that there is more to life than their next drug use.”

“Coleridge was a drug addict. Poe was an alcoholic. Marlowe was killed by a man whom he was treacherously trying to stab. Pope took money to keep a woman's name out of a satire, then wrote a piece so that she could still be recognized, anyhow. Chatterton killed himself. Byron was accused of incest. Do you still want to a writer -and if so, why?”

“Their house had real hardcover books in it, and you often saw them lying open on the sofa, the words still warm from being read.”