Written in 2009

"To the Editor: I continue to be amazed at the number of advice books listed each week in the Book Review as best sellers. I have led a long, productive life based on only two pieces of advice, both of which I learned as a preschooler some 80 years ago. First, I try to play nicely with everybody; second, if I am crabby, I take a nap. What more does anyone need to know?" --
Eleanor Blumenberg of Santa Monica, California (in the "Letters" section of the New York Times Book Review, July 12, 2009).