I have no ripe thoughts. I’ve been reading Anthony Trollope and Theodore Dreiser. I have thoughts about them, but no ripe thoughts. It is true, sometimes the thoughts ripen after the writing has started. In this case, however, it is not the time. I’m going to read more Trollope and I’m going to investigate American literature better.

What with enjoying Flannery O’Connor so much, and just finishing a book of her collected letters and other bits of writing entitled Spiritual Writings– which I highly recommend, and with being intrigued to understand why Mencken liked Dreiser and what exactly Dreiser was doing, and, of course, Melville, Sinclair Lewis, Faulkner, Wolfe, Cather, Welty and all the rest, I think if I were to start a degree I would study American Literature.

And Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick. I was wandering around seeing what kind of writing degrees are offered around here and found an interesting one at Hamline. One of the chaps directing things at Hamline has got a most interesting book in print: the first biography of Philip K. Dick.