The Secret Shelf - 02

I once asked a writer what he'd read lately. "Oh, I don't read much," he replied. I fell off my chair. Not really. If you want your writing to peel away like cheap paint on a lawn chair, then keep your reading diet slight. If you do read, read only the popular modern books, like Blink or How To blah blah blah, and never dip into Shakespeare. And never, …