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October 11, 2004
TT: The best review I ever got
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.
Posted October 11, 2004 12:01 PM
