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The books which I write seem to appeal to a rather specialized public. Invalids like me.
So do convicts...Yes, I go like a breeze in the prisons of America; and as I say,
I am much read by those whose minds have been temporarily unhinged by physical suffering.
And yet, at the risk of seeming ungracious, I must own that I am not entirely satisfied.
Apart from the uncomfortable thought that the study of my books may be a part of an American
prison-sentence, I cannot restrain a wistful yearning for a few readers of sound health
who do not belong to the criminal classes. It is nice, of course, to be looked on as a
valuable counterirritant in cases of mumps, measles, or tertiary fever. And it is pleasant
to feel that the tedium of drilling a safe has been mitigated for many a conscientious
workman by an occasional glance at a story of mine...Nevertheless, I do have this yearning;
and it would be a great pleasure for me if I could somehow manage to interest a few
blameless and robust persons in my books.

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