Zeta Woof: The Master: Dave saved me from that. Dave had spent some time at the university and in addition to the thousands of comic books he purchased, studied, and saved — some are worth a fortune now if you can get him to part with them — he also developed the habit of reading serious science fiction and literature. Every time I would visit him he would hand me a handfull of books.
"Here. Read this."
How could I refuse? Michael Moorcock, John Brunner, Samuel R. Delaney, Philip K. Dick, Kilgore Trout, Thomas Pynchon, Lawrence Durrell, and Mikhail Bulgakov... there were others, too. I can't remember them all. Dave Handy got me started reading again.
Some I borrowed and never gave back. Dave was not particular about that. The important thing to him was that I read them. I did, and I bought more, and I kept reading, and I've never stopped.