It's A Fine World, Though Rich In

Working- And Middle-class Families Sat Down At The Dinner Table Every Night - The Shared Meal Was The Touchstone Of Good Manners. Indeed, That Dinner Table Was The One Time When We Were All Together, Every Day: Parents, Grandparents, Children, Siblings. Rudeness Between Siblings, Or A Failure To Observe The Etiquette Of Passing Dishes To One Another, Accompanied By "please" And "thank You," Was The Training Ground Of Behavior, The Place Where Manners Began.

But The English Are Different, And They Don't Know How To Be Other Than Different.

No Illusion Is More Crucial Than The Illusion That Great Success And Huge Money Buy You Immunity From The Common Ills Of Mankind, Such As Cars That Won't Start.

The Only Bookstore I Had Was The Paperback Rack At The Drugstore.

Through My College Years, Topping That Ridge Had Always Given Me A Great Sense Of Being Home, But Time Had Diminished The Emotion And I Had Begun To Suspect That Home Was Less A Place Than An Empty Page.