Anatomy of Melancholy, The

When I wasn’t writing, I could usually be found wandering the pages of Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy, the 17th-century tome that I likened to a proto-DSM-IV.

The book, in my opinion, most useful to a man who wishes to acquire the reputation of being well read, with the least trouble, is "Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy," the most amusing and instructive medley of quotations and classical anecdotes I ever perused.