What can one do with one’s life? By this I don’t mean to raise questions as to how
it should be lived. a matter far beyond the scope of this book (or any that I could
write). I mean simply, how can one deal with all the events. people, places, ideas.
fuuy memories, longforgotten letters, mental snaphshots—and real ones—that lit-
ter the past of each of us? And of course everything is past, including last night.

This book is a way of contending with such fragments. It happens to involve my
personal accumulation. But I think of it as a kind of “How To" volume, a suggestion
for anyone in the mood to start viewing the alphabet as a good filing system into
which everything that has happened can neatly be dropped. The alphabet provides a
comfortingly definitive structure. and you don't have to worry too much about
chronology: personal dates aren't all that important unless you are taking a personal
history test. (I say this because. although I have always liked history, I am very weak
on my own chronology, and must rely on a good friend [see ANNE].)