Although I was poor, it never bothered me. I went to the library and I could read. I liked to go on the Fifth Avenue bus, which had an upper level, just to sit there and look at the city, or I made a trip on the El that went all over the city…. At that time, [in a cafeteria] for thirty cents you could eat and sit the whole day long reading newspapers or books or even writing an article.
–Isaac Bashevis Singer, in Conversations with Isaac Bashevis Singer, interviews by Richard Burgin, 24, 25
