I didn’t really know Walker Percy, but one day when I was in Maple Street Book Shop I spotted Walker coming up the walk.

I said to Cutting Jahnke, who was minding the store, “Quick, sell me a copy of The Last Gentleman. I want to ask him to autograph it.”

Walker came in and said hello in his diffident manner. I asked him to autograph the book, and while he was signing, I ventured, “I don’t mind telling you, Mr. Percy, that this book changed my life.”

Walker looked down at the floor, shuffled his feet a little, and said, “Well, it didn’t do a damned thing for me.”

— The Book That Didn’t Change Walker Percy’s Life | The American Conservative.