Reading for Master's program

I'm doing some reading for the Master's program, looking at authors more associated with the American West. Right now, I'm reading Willa Cather. Some day, I want to go up to Nebraska and see the musuem associated with her. In any event, I'm reading Lucy Gayheart, and I love how she writes:

"Sebastian had been sitting by the fire for hours. He had smoked until his throat was try, and his thoughts had wandered over a great part of the face of the earth. He had dragged the bottom, and brought up nothing worth remembering. His mind could not find a comfortable position to lie in."

What a great phrase "His mind could not find a comfortable position to lie in."

It is very comforting to read about other people who engage in such fruitless wanderings in the mind. Now, I must read on to see what the author has in mind next.