I went to hear American writer Richard Ford last evening. He was giving a reading and answering questions at St. Mary’s university in Halifax. It was great.

In the Q&A something odd occurred. In reply to a question Ford said his thinking on a particular matter was influenced by a book he had read many years ago. My immediate thought, before he said another word, was of a book that had been the most influential book I’ve ever read, Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which I read probably forty years ago and not since. Ford went on, and said: “Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.” My eyes went wide. I smiled. I suppose we’re of the same generation, though he’s older than me. But still.