Readers Are Everywhere

I took a cab home from the airport. As soon as I got in the car the taxi driver, a white haired, blue eyed man in his mid to late sixties, quickly asked me where I'd been. When I told him I'd been to a literature conference, he asked me if I'd come across any writers from Budapest. I had to say no, regrettably I had not. Then he asked me what journals I read. I gave him a list. Then he gave me a list of the journals he reads. His list was longer. Then, while driving, he produced copies of two magazines, Newsweek and Archeology, and complained to me how very difficult it is to piece together a reliable account about someone like Alexander the Great (a subject recently covered in no fewer than five magazines and journals he reads) when one's sources appear to contradict each other.

Readers. They're out there. They're real.