he was a writer; so, he did lots of writerly things, like read foreign books on the terrace of cafes or on oscar wilde’s grave, teach plebeians about the complexities of the english language and enter into devastating love affairs that inspired his work. from Illinois, he was of the world of cotillions and debutantes but fancied himself an accidental lowlife who valiantly turned the other cheek when he ought to have hated the world.