GUITAR DAD

I realize that not everyone digs books. But surely everyone has been enlightened or enraptured by the printed page at some point in his or her life, if only for a few fleeting moments.

Others like me have undergone – and continue to undergo – fundamental transformation through the reading and re-reading of books. I can't really pinpoint the single title that blew me away most profoundly. So many have made their impact over the years, from early faves like The Old Man and the Sea, The Catcher in the Rye and On the Road, to more recent reads like Henry Miller's The Colossus of Maroussi, John Fante's Ask the Dust and A.J. Liebling's Back Where I Came From.
 
Best Life magazine runs a nifty feature called "The Book that Changed My Life."   A recent entry describes the excitement and kick-in-the-pants inspiration of discovering Tom Wolfe's The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, a literary gem I return to again and again.

Walt Disney once said, "There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island ... and you can enjoy these riches every day of your life."

Dr. Seuss, in his cleverly playful way, declared: "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

William Faulkner simply urged everyone to "Read, read, read."
 
Am I a geek or what?

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