There's a wonderful book entitled Several Short Sentences About Writing from Verlyn Klinkenborg that I feel is important to everyone who enjoys reading and writing. It's about learning to free your mind when writing (don't try to stick to strict rules, find your own voice in writing). Reading that book also helped me learn how to clear my mind of bias when reading an essay such as this. And I did enjoy this. Not because I understood where he was from or where he's been. Just the opposite: I don't understand and cannot comprehend living his east St. Louis life, his NBA life, or his post-career depression. I enjoyed it because the style of writing fit the story being told.
It makes me wonder if folks who criticize this writing would also criticize something like Neuromancer, Huckleberry Finn, or A Clockwork Orange in the same way.
