A LONG TIME AGO, I turned on “All Things Considered” just in time to hear someone talking about suburban sprawl. He spoke for about a minute, succinctly saying things I was thinking about but had not said as well or concisely.

“We have been speaking with James Howard Kunstler, who lives in Saratoga Springs, New York,” the announcer said, and I called information to get his phone number (which shows how long ago this was).

I called him. He answered, and I started to introduce myself.

“Take your amnesia pills, John,” he said. “You’re in the book.”

He had interviewed me a year or two earlier for The Geography of Nowhere, but I had forgotten.