Reply #23: Larry McMurtry wrote a fascinating account

[charlie]

of his radical change following heart bypass. He was once a consummate bookaholic. Writing pained him because it took away from his book collecting/reading time. Managing his bookstores pained him because it took away from his writing time. His happy immersion in literature stopped cold after the surgery. He couldn't muster an interest in either reading or writing and it so distressed him, he spent over a year in a room at his friend's house doing nothing except stewing in his lassitude.