Excerpt from The Bloom of Life This book is a sequel to Little Pierre, which appeared two years ago, and it brings my friend to the eve of his entry into the big world. These two volumes, whereto may be added My Friend's Book and Pierre Noziere, recount - although some names are altered and some circumstances feigned - the memories of my early years. How and why I came to employ disguise in presenting these faithful reminiscences to the world I shall unfold at the end of my narrative, when the child that I once had been had grown so complete a stranger to me that I could find, in his company, distraction from my own. My recollections follow one another haphazard, without order or connection. My memory is capricious. Madame de Caylus, when old and weighed down with care, lamented that her mind was not sufficiently free to allow her to dictate her autobiography.