Sometimes, when I am too witless to avoid it, I tell people I am a writer. It usually has the effect of making them uncomfortable and confused. I understand. It's awkward to encounter a live writer in an age where most people don't read books, yet still harbour some vestigial, guilty, schoolmarmish feeling that reading is something they should do. Well, that's not entirely true. People do read some books, just not the kind that I write.