Pen-bereavement Is A Serious Matter.

My Daughter Is Seven, And Some Of The Other Second-grade Parents Complain That Their Children Don't Read For Pleasure. When I Visit Their Homes, The Children's Rooms Are Crammed With Expensive Books, But The Parent's Rooms Are Empty. Those Children Do Not See Their Parents Reading, As I Did Every Day Of My Childhood. By Contrast, When I Walk Into An Apartment With Books On The Shelves, Books On The Bedside Tables, Books On The Floor, And Books On The Toilet Tank, Then I Know What I Would See If I Opened The Door That Says 'private--grownups Keep Out': A Child Sprawled On The Bed, Reading.

To Use An Electronics Analogy, Closing A Book On A Bookmark Is Like Pressing The Stop Button, Whereas When You Leave The Book Facedown, You've Only Pressed Pause.

...the Reader Who Plucks A Book From Her Shelf Only Once Is As Deprived As The Listener Who, After Attending A Single Performance Of A Beethoven Symphony, Never Hears It Again.

You Can Miss A Lot By Sticking To The Point.

When I Write After Dark", Observed Cyril Connolly, "the Shades Of Evening Scatter Their Purple Through My Prose