How to Read

We all know that world-class writers write differently from the rest of us. What I didn't know — at least until recently — was how differently some of them read.

Check out these links to the private books of two pretty fair writers: Mark Twain and David Foster Wallace. They're worth exploring, because 1) it's as thrillingly close as you'll get to the engine room of their minds; and 2) because they provide a vivid (and for me, utterly humbling) lesson on how to truly read.

For most of us...