Illinois is a state of suspended animation and the people live in hibernation from Oct. to whenever it ever gets warmer.

Illinois is a state of suspended animation and the people live in hibernation from Oct. to whenever it ever gets warmer.

So who's perfect? ... Washington had false teeth. Franklin was nearsighted. Mussolini had syphilis. Unpleasant things have been said about Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde. Tchaikovsky had his problems, too. And Lincoln was constipated.

Book reviewers are little old ladies of both sexes.

They say great themes make great novels. but what these young writers don't understand is that there is no greater theme than men and women.

Becoming the reader is the essence of becoming a writer.

Our story opens in the mind of Luther L. (L for LeRoy) Fliegler, who is lying in his bed, not thinking of anything, but just aware of sounds, conscious of his own breathing, and sensitive to his own heartbeats. Lying beside him is his wife, lying on her right side and enjoying her sleep.