I did ask. And what a forthright answer. It's astonishing how many books you reference and of such variety. I'm glad it provides you solace--stories have always done that for me.

I think about Percy Shelley and universalizing personal pain--at least I think it was Shelley who talked about that.

I used to read a lot, lot more, but now I'm fixated on output and what I read is mostly research to fill in gaps. Most of the stuff I post is just grist for writing.