JL;DR SUMMARY The author reflects on his journey as a writer, admitting to early aspirations to imitate literary giants like Henry James, even though it took him until almost 40 to write his first novel due to self-imposed obstacles and a reluctance to face his Jewish identity and heritage in his writing. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.