One might think reading these books -- and I've gotten thousands of letters about them by people who do think this -- that, based on my life's history as I portray it in the books, my early life's history, I am someone who has overcome adversity, that I am someone who has drunk -- drank? -- drunk of the bitter dregs of near-disaster in childhood and emerged not just unscathed but strengthened.
Netko može pomisliti čitajući ove knjige -- a dobio sam tisuće pisama o njima od ljudi koji to misle -- s obzirom na vlastitu životnu povijest koju sam prikazao u knjigama, povijest mog ranijeg života - da sam ja netko tko je nadišao probleme. Da sam netko tko je pio, pio i popio gorke ostatke bliske katastrofe u djetinjstvu i izašao iz toga ne samo neozlijeđen već i ojačan.