In Order To Write The Book You

You Never Forget The Discovery Years. First Kisses. The First Time You Try Certain Foods.

You Can't Be A Human Without Seeing.

It Wasn't That I Couldn't Write. I Wrote Every Day. I Actually Worked Really Hard At Writing. At My Desk By 7 A.m., Would Work A Full Eight And More. Scribbled At The Dinner Table, In Bed, On The Toilet, On The No. 6 Train, At Shea Stadium. I Did Everything I Could. But None Of It Worked.

But Back Then, In Those First Days, I Was So Alone That Every Day Was Like Eating My Own Heart.

Books Don't Live And Die By Awards. You Don't Listen To An Hector Lavoe Album Because It Won Some Awards.