"Why are reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mysteries probed?"

Annie Dillard delivers a superbly written essay on the life of a writer, reader and artist. An inspiring, quick read.

I see this book is included with a lot of how to write books. This book will not teach you how to write as much as how to live.

"Push it. Examine all things intensely and relentlessly. Probe and search each object in a piece of art. Do not leave it, do not course over it as if it were understood, but instead follow it down until you see it in the mystery of it's own specificity and strength."

She should have spoke at my commencement. This is the way to approach life.