This is the first in what will become a long series of dispatches Mr. Pollack will file from the road, where he will be for the foreseeable future, traveling and reading and exploiting the kindness of people coast to coast to Canada.
Cities become a cacophonous blur of publicists, taxicabs and autograph-seeking lickspittles.
But when all the drinks have been emptied and the fluids exchanged, a vast emptiness manifests itself in my heart, and I feel the need to write. So to the hotel room I retreat, alone, and begin composing. This is how a master stays ahead. This is how I bring the people joy. Last Thursday night, I appeared on the stage of the Horseshoe, the Toronto rock club where a band called The Police had once made its North American debut.