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1、WRITINGFORMYSELFRussellBaker TheideaofbecomingawriterhadcometomeoffandonsincemychildhoodinBelleville,butitwasn'tuntilmythirdyearinhighschoolthatthepossibilitytookhold.UntilthenI'dbeenboredbyeverythingassociatedwithEnglishcourses.IfoundEnglishgrammardullanddifficult.Ihatedtheassignmentstotur
2、noutlong,lifelessparagraphsthatwereagonyforteacherstoreadandformetowrite. WhenourclasswasassignedtoMr.Fleagleforthird-yearEnglishIanticipatedanothercheerlessyearinthatmosttediousofsubjects.Mr.Fleaglehadareputationamongstudentsfordullnessandinabilitytoinspire.Hewassaidtobeveryformal,rigidandh
3、opelesslyoutofdate.Tomehelookedtobesixtyorseventyandexcessivelyprim.Heworeprimlysevereeyeglasses,hiswavyhairwasprimlycutandprimlycombed.Heworeprimsuitswithnecktiessetprimlyagainstthecollarbuttonsofhiswhiteshirts.Hehadaprimlypointedjaw,aprimlystraightnose,andaprimmannerofspeakingthatwassocorrect,s
4、ogentlemanly,thatheseemedacomicantique. IpreparedforanunfruitfulyearwithMr.Fleagleandforalongtimewasnotdisappointed.Lateintheyearwetackledtheinformalessay.Mr.Fleagledistributedahomeworksheetofferingusachoiceoftopics.Nonewasquitesosimple-mindedas“WhatIDidonMySummerVacation,”butmostseemedtobe
5、almostasdull.Itookthelisthomeanddidnothinguntilthenightbeforetheessaywasdue.Lyingonthesofa,Ifinallyfaceduptotheunwelcometask,tookthelistoutofmynotebook,andscannedit.Thetopiconwhichmyeyestoppedwas“TheArtofEatingSpaghetti.” Thistitleproducedanextraordinarysequenceofmentalimages.Vividmemoriesc
6、amefloodingbackofanightinBellevillewhenallofuswereseatedaroundthesuppertable—UncleAllen,mymother,UncleCharlie,Doris,UncleHal—andAuntPatservedspaghettiforsupper.Spaghettiwasstillalittleknownforeigndishinthosedays.NeitherDorisnorIhadevereatenspaghetti,andnoneoftheadultshadenoughexperiencetobegoodat
7、it.AllthegoodhumorofUncleAllen'shousereawokeinmymindasIrecalledthelaughingargumentswehadthatnightaboutthesociallyrespectablemethodformovingspaghettifromplatetomouth. SuddenlyIwantedtowriteaboutthat,aboutthewarmth