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The quality of heaviness.

A few months ago I went to a panel discussion where several novelists and essayists discussed the modern novel, and modern book sales, and modern despair. They criticized the Internet, too, for destroying everything. No one cares about new literature, they said, and I agreed with such force that I immediately ordered a 3,000-page Norton Shakespeare and the three-volume unabridged Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. That served as a beachhead; I reinforced it by special-ordering, at great price, all 37 DVDs of the BBC Shakespeare in performance, which now sit upright like soldiers inside a black box printed with a four-color quill pen, next to my computer. I read a play, watch a play, then read some Roman history. (continued...)

A version of this piece was originally broadcast by NPR on the 26 December 2006 edition of NPR`s All Things Considered. It can be heard on their web site via RealAudio or Windows Media Player.