from the Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever:
For with his maturity, Moses had found in himself a taste for the grain and hair of life.
The context doesn't really help so much in understanding.
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Sign up to join this communityfrom the Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever:
For with his maturity, Moses had found in himself a taste for the grain and hair of life.
The context doesn't really help so much in understanding.
The hair and the grain are the two outermost layers of an animal hide. When a hide is tanned the hair is removed, and the grain, the irregular surface, is usually sanded and polished to eliminate imperfections.
Now take a look at Cheever's use of this as a metaphor in its context; Moses has risen very early in the morning to go fly-fishing:
He gathered in his line and made another cast, wading so deep in the pool that his crotch got wet, a blessing, he thought, hoping that the cold water would discourage his mind from ever leaving such simple pleasures, for with his maturity Moses had found in himself a taste for the grain and hair of life.
Moses' taste for the hair and grain of life is a preference for life in its simplest natural state, without being artificially "processed" by socialization.