Oh, for a book and a shady nook.

Montaigne said of his essays, “I have no more made this book than this book has made me.” I think he means his writing revealed him to himself, and the revelations weren’t always consciously intended. Again and again in his essays he seems to discover himself inadvertently, which is to say only that your radically personal identity, with or without your consent, is made evident in your writing. Like a fingerprint.

—Leonard Michaels, “Writing About Myself” (via fsgbooks)

(via booklover)