Dear Dr. Coles...

Dear Dr. Coles,

At last, I am writing you. It has taken awhile, but here I finally am.

I just finished reading your book The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination. Your book is a required text in the Adolescent Literature class that I am taking. I have to admit, that upon a first reading, your book was difficult for me to get through, in terms of the writing style. At times, I found myself frustrated. You would go on for multiple paragraphs about the personal experience and reading experience of a student or a patient; then you would simply shift your ideas and discuss another person. I felt lost as a reader- I was thinking to myself, almost ready to shout aloud, "Wait...but what happened to Richard? What happened to the girl that related to Toni Morrison's Beloved?"

After reading your book, I think my questions of "What happened to...?" have been answered. Does it really matter what happened to them? The important thing is that literature assisted many of your students and patients in their quest for understanding themselves and their families. Literature also assisted you.

Most notable for me was the story of Ben- reading the book Invisible Man, Ben suddenly saw issues in his life brought to life. Despite the fact that he was a priviledged, young white man, he began to feel the plight of African-Americans. He too, under different circumstances, felt "invisible." At one point in your book, Ben mentions how his parents sometimes would neglect him, going on vacations without him...as if he was the "invisible son." Ben eventually went on to get involved with programs with inner city youth.

The message of Ben's story and the message of your book is clear: stories change us. Whether they are our stories that we are telling others or whether they are fictional stories that we are reading on our own--- we become changed. By reading William Carlos Williams, you were changed as a doctor and began to see that empathy and sincerity are just as important as knowing different medical conditions and diagnoses. The same goes for us teachers- we don't just need to be knowledgable in academic areas; we need to possess empathy and sincerity--- we need to make sure that our students see that side of us too.

Some might find the argument that one can learn about their morality through literature to be an extreme argument. I agree with the findings of your book- that literature can lead to changes and realizations in the self. No one really wants to confront their own morality; we are full of fear. Who wants to really look deep inside themselves without having a guide? Literature can guide us and can make us see things in ourselves that need changing/mending. Our morality, or lack thereof, is safer to confront if we confront it in the form or fictional stories or novels.

Your book didn't really change my viewpoint on any issues. Your book confirmed my viewpoint on the issue of the power of stories and how one's reading life affects their "path" in life. Stories can either inspire us or allow us a way to escape from our lives. Your students and patients mentioned life-changing literature such as: Invisible Man, Old Man and the Sea, "Death of Ivan Ilych," "Gooseberries," Last Gentleman, and Middlemarch. Each reader has their own reading life, which directs their path in life.

For me, life-changing books that have called to me include: She's Come Undone, Tuesdays with Morrie, Stargirl, Sun Also Rises, and Raisin in the Sun.

On a final note, your book has changed my opinion of doctors. I previously saw doctors as cold and unemotional, comparable to robots. Every doctor I have ever encountered has solely focused on a diagnosis, and not on ME. Your book leads me to feel hopeful about the men and women in medical professions.

Thank you for your thought-provoking book.

PS I plan on reading a Walker Percey book sometime soon. It is on my "To-do" list.