Read: "The Contortionist's Handbook," by Craig Clevenger (2001?)

Why: Paid to

It's the story of a man who creates a bunch of aliases so he doesn't get thrown in jail or the mental hospital

Takeaway: One day I was dropping something off at my friend the publisher's, and offered to input some proofing corrections on another manuscript while I was there. Twenty pages in, I noticed two things: one, the proofreader had missed a lot of errors, and two, the manuscript was *fantastic*. Just beautifully written. It had a clear, fresh way of putting things -- a way of seeing images in a flash that made the book feel like a good movie. It was clear to me that every word had been considered. Once I read the whole thing straight through, it got even better. I like most things my friend publishes, but this was another kind of liking -- I realized I liked this book as a book, not just as a product of my friend, of whom I am very proud.