obably John Irving or Salman Rushdie … but I have always loved stories told in episodes。 It is a format I first encountered in The Saturday Evening Post； and I liked it because the end of each episode made the reader an almost equal participant with the writer…you had a whole week to try to figure out the next twist of the snake。 Also； one read and experienced these stories more intensely； it seemed to me； because they were rationed。 You couldn't gulp； even if you wanted to （and if the story was good； you did）。
Best of all； in my house we often read them aloud…my brother； David； one night； myself the next； my mother taking a turn on the third； then back to my brother again。 It was a rare chance to enjoy a written work as we enjoyed the movies we went to and the TV programs （Rawhide； Bonanza。 Route 66） that we watched together； they were a family event 。 It wasn't until years later that I discovered Dickens's novels had been enjoyed by families of his day in much the same fashion。 only their fireside agonizings over the fate of Pip and Oliver and David Copperfield went on for years instead of a couple of months （even the longest of the Post serials rarely ran much more than eight installments）。
There was one other thing that I liked about the idea； an appeal that I suspect only the writer of suspense tales and spooky stories can fully appreciate： in a story which is published m installments； the writer gains an ascendancy over the reader which he or she cannot otherwise enjoy： simply put。 Constant Reader； you cannot flip ahead and see how matters turn out。
I still remember walking into our living room once when I was twelve or so and seeing my mother in her favorite rocker； peeking at the end of an Agatha Christie paperback while her finger held her