Dinner at Leah & John's: I was delighted to discover that they dislike Henry James as much as I do; it marks a new stage in our friendship. John even took Aspects of the Novel off the shelf and read E. M. Forster's cutting remarks on James. (Forster manages to be both magniloquent and incisive. It's very satisfying.) They disagree on George Eliot. "One day many years from now," Leah said, "when you're incapacitated, and I'm taking care of you, I'll read Middlemarch to you, and you're going to love it." I know exactly how she feels.