Monique Polak

I don't know about you... but a beautiful paragraph can sure have power over me. Sometimes, I think life is all about language. When you think about it, words can start wars; they can also makeus fall in love.

That's kind of what happened to me last night when I began reading British author Alain de Botton's new book The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. (I'm reviewing it for The Gazette along with another book about work.) I only read the first chapter, but here's the part that grabbed me. De Botton  is describing brand new cars in a British car lot: "smelling of newly minted plastic and synthetic carpet, [these cars] will bear witness to sandwich lunches and arguments, love-making and motorway songs. They will be driven to beauty spots and left to gather leaves in school car parks. A few will kill their owners."

What do you think of that paragraph? It definitely makes me want to keep reading. And you know what else? It also makes me want to KEEP WRITING! That's why I believe that writers at all stages need to be readers. How else can we know what we want to aspire to?