A reader writes:
A story I thought you might enjoy hearing:
My brother has no formal education, and never acquired a love of books. I doubt he’s read more than a dozen in his entire life, and he is not a young man.
Yesterday, he happened to notice a copy of The Skeptic: A Life of H.L. Mencken on my bookshelf and began thumbing through it. Then,
to my great surprise, he sat down and began reading
it. Engrossed in it would be a better way of putting
it. Every so often he would look up and smile and read
aloud some terrific line from the book. Understand,
this is a guy who had never heard of Mencken before he
picked up your book. “Damn, who IS this Teachout
dude?” he asked at one point. “I’d give anything to be
able to write like he does.”
When my brother left, he took The Skeptic with him. He
promised to finish it quickly and return it promptly. I’ve no doubt he will do the former if not the latter.
I’m still smiling.