137: The Book That Changed Your Life

The episode opens with Act One, where Alexa Young (credited as Alexa McLain/Young) describes discovering her grandfather's annotated book collection as a child. Her playwright grandfather's marginal notes—particularly his rare 'ah!' exclamations—led her to Moss Hart's autobiography 'Act One,' which became a life-defining text. She memorized long passages, developed a romantic fixation on Hart, and unconsciously modeled her life on his: moving to New York, writing plays, and even soliciting funding from strangers in imitation of Hart's own fundraising tactics. A pivotal moment came when she met Hart's widow Kitty Carlisle after a college lecture and confessed her feelings, frightening the elderly woman. The act concludes with a reading of Alexa's grandfather Marvin Borowski's moving farewell letter to his students, revealing the deep connection between her feelings for Hart and her unexpressed grief for a grandfather she never knew.

Act Two features David Sedaris recounting how he found a pornographic novel in the woods at age 13 and passed it through his siblings, each interpreting it differently. His sister Gretchen became convinced that all middle-class adults were secretly engaged in the book's lurid activities, barricading her bedroom door at night. Sister Amy used it as a classroom textbook in her imaginary school. The book eventually made its way to their mother, who found it hidden between the mattress springs—validating Gretchen's paranoid theories. Sedaris ultimately disposes of the book by tossing it into a stranger's pickup truck at a grocery store, ending the family's infection.

Act Three tells the story of Roger Wendland, a Portland construction worker who began collecting Lewis and Clark memorabilia from a plate given by his grandmother. After amassing 1,100 fair items, he transitioned to collecting books about Lewis and Clark. Goaded by a bookseller who laughed at his ambition, Roger spent 14 years maxing out 12 credit cards and refinancing his house three times to build what became the largest known private Lewis and Clark book collection in the United States—all without actually reading the books. Only later did he begin to engage with their contents, eventually becoming a recognized scholar. He sold his collection to Lewis and Clark College for a substantial sum, retired at 54, and spent his remaining years as a resident scholar. He later wrote a memoir about his collecting life before his death in 2023.

Act Four follows writer Megan Daum, who as a child obsessively identified with Laura Ingalls Wilder's pioneer books and eventually decided to leave New York City for Nebraska. She visits De Smet, South Dakota—the real setting of six of Wilder's books—where she attends the annual Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant, interviews longtime participants including pageant author Marion Kramer, and explores the Ingalls homestead with landowners Tim and Joan Sullivan. She finds that De Smet genuinely resembles the world Laura described, with townspeople embodying the values of self-reliance and honesty from the books. The episode closes noting that Megan did move to Nebraska two weeks after the story first aired, living there for several years before moving back and forth across the country—paralleling Laura Ingalls Wilder's own restless life.