“I kept stealing the phone books. Because I thought I may never be back in this city…I want to have a souvenir from Phoenix. And I used to go through the phone books and I would look at all the names and I’d go, “All these people…and they live in Phoneix…I’m never going to meet these people. I have to take a piece of them with me.” And my bag broke one day and it was always because of those phone books.”
– Cameron Crowe
That’s a quotation from the Almost Famous director’s commentary. It encapsulates the near-overwhelming sensation I get whenever I land in or drive through a large city. I’m continually fascinated by how enormous this country is. But I’m not nutty enough to steal phone books. I have to draw the line somewhere.