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By David Rothman

image Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II was a dream patient for his American dentist, during World War I, in at least one way.

He showed a extremely high tolerance of pain, at least if you go by the start of The Kaiser as I Know Him, which I read on my Sony Reader this morning on a walk down Howard St. and Jordan in Alexandria, VA.

"’The ladies like an anesthetic, no doubt, Davis,’" the Kaiser would tell tell the Dr. Arthur Davis, "but I can stand it without. Go ahead!"

"And I may say at this point," Davis recalls, "that in all my experience I never observed him to flinch while in the chair. He was the best patient in that respect I had ever treated. It often occurred to me, after the war started, that in his own callousness to pain lay the secret of his disregard for the pain and suffering he was responsible for in others."

Tips for e-walkers

You can catch up with the book directly on Google Book Search or via the Sony-Google connection. Meanwhile here are a few more tips for reader-walkers—including maybe even members of the Authors Guild who’d disagree with me on the text-to-speech issue and want to remain "pure" in the use of their Kindles IIs:

1. The optimal street for walking has long blocks, light pedestrian traffic and few driveways. Lower Howard Street and Jordan, down to Duke St., qualify well for me. Otherwise, for safety reason, I might still confine my e-walking to the halls of my apartment complex. Driveways, of course, mean cars coming in and out.

2. I’ve put the PRS-505 in the large print mode, the better use of peripheral version and reserve more concentration for my surroundings.

3. Similarly, in the interest of awareness of approaching cars, I’m not listening to music, though the Sony will play nonencrypted MP3s.

4. Don’t sue me if you e-walk and end up in the ER. Try this at your own risk!

Related: Earlier mention of e-walking, as well as a New York Times review of the Davis book. Right now I can see only the abstract of the review, alas, not the full text. Meanwhile, yes, given the Sony-Google format choice, I guess I’m literally walking the ePub walk.

 
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