I Think Of Myself As A Realistic

When I Was 12 Years Old, I Read Nancy Drew Mysteries And Biographies Of Madame Curie And Florence Nightingale And Books About Girls Who Love Horses Or Go To Nursing School. I Belonged To The Girl Scouts And Got A's In School And Rarely Disobeyed My Parents. I Still Kept A Collection Of Barbie Dolls In My Room, And I Almost Never Spoke To Boys.

In The Event Of An Oxygen Shortage On Airplanes, Mothers Of Young Children Are Always Reminded To Put On Their Own Oxygen Mask First, To Better Assist The Children With Theirs. The Same Tactic Is Necessary On Terra Firma. There's No Way Of Sustaining Our Children If We Don't First Rescue Ourselves. I Don't Call That Selfish Behavior. I Call It Love.

Some Literary Types Subscribe To The Notion That Being A Writer Like Salinger Entitles A Person To Remain Free Of The Standards That Might Apply To Mere Mortals.

Long After Salinger Sent Me Away, I Continued To Believe His Standards And Expectations Were The Best Ones.

Although Salinger Had Long Since Cut Me Out Of His Life Completely And Made It Plain That He Had Nothing But Contempt For Me, The Thought Of Becoming The Object Of His Wrath Was More Than I Felt Ready To Take On.