About Books, 3

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: Hmmm, this one’s a tuffy. If there was a Complete Idiot’s Guide to Raft Construction, I’d want that. But there is no such book. . . . I checked. Of books that actually exist, and assuming that I’m stranded on that desert island, with no phones, no lights, no motor cars, etc., I’d have to go with The Best Short Stories of O. Henry. I haven’t read them all. But being stranded would give me plenty of time to finish up and then read them again and again.

4. One book that made you laugh: Juvenal’s Satires. Some people have this really insightful and wicked sort of wit. I’m not one of them. Juvenal was. If you ever get the impression that human nature has changed, this guy will cure you.