Melville came to associate Christianity not with faith, hope, and charity, but with militaristic nationalism, ethnocentrism, slavery, hypocrisy, and predatory capitalism.

We ate well, dressed warmly, and washed our hands often. We were suspicious of publicly circulated objects. My mother knew the invaders might ride in on dollar bills and public library books.

When I was young and lived in New York, I spent hours in the Strand browsing for that one book I just had to have, and now no return visit is complete without shopping bag full of treasures I probably won't have years enough to read.

I have always tried to do the right thing in life, yet the results from making wrong choices were constantly staring me in the face. An example, and granted it is a huge one, was getting pregnant at the age of seventeen, which caused the loss of my child to adoption.