Preface – Tell me of Poe, Oscar Wilde and Thoreau There are films, books, and records that change your life, sometimes. They arrive at the most inconvenient times—or perhaps not. They come when we’re receptive, when our defenses have crumbled, when we find ourselves alone in a room, staring at the ceiling, lost in our darkest thoughts. The film of my life is Dead Poets Society, which I saw when I was very young. The book is The Town and the City by Jack Kerouac, which I read at sixteen. Sometime later, I listened to the record of my life. In truth, there were not fewer than three. One was Born to Run by Springsteen, another was Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan, and the third, which arrived last, was Veedon Fleece. Now, Veedon Fleece holds a secret key. If you manage to find it, a world opens up. It’s a world of suggestion and poetic flight. I don’t know if it’s due to that fluid, lyrical style, halfway between Irish folk and jazz. An album that takes you to places you didn’t think you ...