Happy birthday, Joseph Epstein …

… Anecdotal Evidence: 'I Read in the Hope of Discovering the Truth'. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

In 2000, five years after the death of his formidably well-read friend Edward Shils, Epstein published in First Thingsthe only poem of his I have ever read, “Edward Shils in Heaven.” In it he asks: “Are there good books and journals in the place for you to read?” A Heaven without books sounds like a shoddy, low-rent Heaven, like a cheap motel.