while it may seem just a collection of stories and remembrances, musings and fascinations of an outsider, sometimes hit and miss, deep down this book is a love story. not hopeless, romantic, platonic, fantasy, or unrequited, but intelligent love. this is love that analyzes, penetrates, compares, studies, digs, and tries to understand the other, physically, psychologically, and spiritually taking into account the differences of that other and, while never releasing his own identity, using it as both mirror and standard by which to question and reflect upon the truth and groundings of his beliefs and pre-conceived systems. i wish more people loved like Hearn...also my copy is a General Electric Company San Francisco office library book, last checked out in 1931 by a Miss Eluasm, printed on letterpress. it feels good in your hands, and may have tainted my view of the book. to borrow, inquire within.
