THE RECKLESS WRITER

One downside to living abroad is that you lose easy access to books written in your native language. All my adventures took place before smartphones and the ability to instantly download any book you wanted. But digital copies are a poor substitute for a living, breathing book.

It’s comparable to the difference between looking at a photo of a puppy and holding one in your arms.

Being able to walk into a bookstore is as important to me as taking a walk into the woods. When people say, “Go out and touch some grass,” I reach for my copy of Walt Whitman. People who are addicted to words know what I mean.

My life in Lima, Peru provided me with many of the foundational experiences of my life. It also taught me how to become a scrounger of books. Picture a man in glasses picking through a library dumpster and you get the general idea.

A starving man must do what he can in order to feed his soul.

My emergency ration of books

Naturally there were bookstores in Lima, Peru and they offered books in English. But the selection was minimal and the price was high.

I’ve never taken a trip anywhere in my life without packing at least one book. I’d gone to to Peru with the intention of staying, so I’d brought my emergency rations. These were books I knew would sustain me even if I had to read them over and over again.

My first selection was my battered old copy of The Lord of the Rings. It is a boxed set that was given to me by my uncle when I was maybe eight or nine. He passed away shortly after that, so it’s the only physical thing I have to remember him by. Remembering the person who gave you your first copy of The Lord of the Rings is like remembering the first friend you made at school.

That’s an important life event.

I also had a copy of The Brothers Karamazov. Between those two books, what else do you need really? I’d probably select something by Roald Dahl or Douglas Adams.