Have you ever read any Thomas Wolfe? Not Tom Wolfe, the contemporary novelist. Thomas Wolfe, the writer from the 1920's. He wrote two books that I keep by my bedside: Look Homeward, Angel and You Can't Go Home Again. Wolfe's writing really affects me, and I can't say that about very many things. I find a little bit of myself on every page. One passage in particular from Look Homeward, Angel struck me deeply when I first read it. I come back to it from time to time and it still holds the same power for me. Check it out.

Here's another one that has always held me in awe, by Somerset Maugham. With a name like that, you can do no wrong. This is the passage that set my standards for the kind of relationship that I wanted, that I sought, that I found. It's from his short story called Red.