By Nelson – When Ian Fel­ler asked me to do an article about things I’ve read that have had an effect on me, I really had to sit down and think about the things that really left a deep impression. If they say we’re a product of our environment, I guess everything must shape us in one way or another. Nowadays, with so many other forms of communicative media, like television, radio, and—God forbid—the Internet, reading seems to be almost obsolete in today’s “microwave” generation. Still, faster doesn’t mean better. I never thought of the writing profession as something that would actually be a fun thing to do. That was…