llinois is a funnily-shaped state. Sort of like Lincoln’s profile. It’s flat and it’s long and it crags along unsteadily on the Mississippi. But there’s a lot going on there. We read at a used book store in Cairo. We ate at a Chinese food joint. It was a slow night, only ten copies of The Unknown sold. Who knew then that months later, we would be honored guests at The University of Illinois. The highlight that first time round, truth be told, was when Perloff picked us up near Carbondale.

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