Reading with intensity …

… Essay Daily: Talk About the Essay: Susannah Q. Pratt: How Zadie Smith Saved My Book. (Hat tip, Virginia Kerr.)

… I knew, rather than pouting, I had to face facts. Simply put, I’d been scooped. Smith had beaten me to the analysis and stated it better than I ever could. Plus, with her fame and excellent writing and all, she’d had the jump on me from the start. I was clearly not going to be writing my way into some literary life. In the quiet heat of the afternoon I closed my eyes and fell asleep.