I Don't Write Directly On To The

I Think If There Hadn't Been The One Passage Of The Book That Mostly Abandons The Humor, And Focuses Very Intently On One Person's Struggle With Cancer, It Wouldn't Have Been A Critical Success. So That Was A Very Deliberate Decision, To Say "well, If You Think It's All Fun And Games, It's Not." So That Was My Approach: We're Going To Have As Much Fun As I Can Possibly Provide, But The Serious Things That Might Normally Pass By You Are Not Going To Be Lost.

Once I Had The Voice, I Knew I Wasn't Going To Fall Off The Bicycle. I Tap Right Back Into It. It Really Was Like Learning How To Ride A Bike - You Never Forget, And I Was Able To Carry It Along With Some Ease. I Never Encountered Any Stumping Problems That Left Me Not Knowing What To Do, So I Was Mostly Able To Hold My Ground. Of Course, I Should Mention That It Took Me A Long Time To Actually Acquire The Voice; There Were A Lot Of Frustrated Attempts Along The Way, Revisions To Long Sections And Versions Of The Book That I Abandoned.

A Child, Thought Carl, Is Not The Only Result Of Childbirth. A Mother, Too, Is Born. You See Them Every Day--nondescript Women With A Bulge Just Above The Groin, Slightly Double-chinned. Perpetually Forty. Someone's Mother, You Think. There Is A Child Somewhere Who Has Made This Woman Into A Mother, And For The Sake Of The Child She Has Altered Her Appearance To Better Play The Part.

We Found Ourselves Wanting To Hurry Time Along, Which Was Not In The Long Run Good For Our Health. Everybody Was Trapped In This Contradiction But Nobody Ever Dared To Articulate It.

We Were Fractious And Overpaid. Our Mornings Lacked Promise. At Least Those Of Us Who Smoked Had Something To Look Forward To At Ten-fifteen.