At eighteen and a student of Civil Engineering in Cork, I got a J1 student visa to work in the USA for the summer. I recollect that I came across Gravity's Rai

At eighteen and a student of Civil Engineering in Cork, I got a J1 student visa to work in the USA for the summer. I recollect that I came across Gravity's Rainbow in a random bookshop in New York. It was lionized and it looked difficult so I bought it. I was staying in Far Rockaway and working on East 52nd Street in New York so the overall daily commute time was about 5 hours with numerous changes. I finished the book in the three months I was in America. When I came home, most people I spoke to about the book assumed that I'd lost my mind. I've never yet met anyone that has read it. I should add that a lot of it went over my head. I also managed to crack Rubik's Cube that summer. Heady days. That's over 40 years ago.