Vocabulary & Expressions
Earlier I warned that the reader is an impatient bird, perched on the thin edge of distraction or sleep.
adv.几乎；濒于；在…边缘
The use of adjective thin here emphaizes the likliness of the subsequent action. The metaphor comparing impatient readers to birds is brilliant.
At first, as a boy in a carefully zoned suburb, I had neighbors and police to reckon with... Later, as a man in the country, I had my old friends in town to reckon with...
处理；对付；和…算帐；预料到; 估计到
Given the various translatinos i found, I still can’t get the gist of the meaning of the phrase here. Does it mean he had to handle the neighbors and friends? But why?
Exactly twelve minutes after I reached the village I was taken in tow by a Christian man and...
Take in tow 拖、拽
造句练习：Out of excitement, I took my mom in tow for a tour of my new apartment in the city.
Reflections
At the very beginning of chapter 5 when I saw Zinsser use different subjects for two clauses in a sentence, I was a bit confused. Isn’t it wrong to do that? I mean according to the grammar books at least. It was at the end of the chapter that he answered my question.
They want me to say “Whom am I writing for?” But I can’t bring myself to say it. It’s just not me.
He used another example to make his point, only more explicitly this time. Rules are rules, but above that, we should be ourselves when we are trying to write. To achieve that, the first step is to put down the words in a way that is comfortable to us and try not to let language get in the way of thoughts.
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