Kathryn Szoka and Maryann Calendrille, who own Canio’s Books in Sag Harbor, are on a first-name basis with one of their favorite poets, Emily Dickinson.

There is something loose and special about the Sag Harbor art gallery community, which can treat its art shows as intuitive and impromptu affairs. Often an open forum, it is not unusual for artists and curators to join the spaces in a last-minute collaboration.

The big story Paul Tough tells in “The Years That Matter Most” is about the failure of higher education in the 21st century to provide equal opportunity to all segments of American society. But it will lead you to reflect on your own academic experience, too.