Dr. No

Dr. No

“I know it’s a bright colour,” the owner said. “It’s chartreuse.” “Actually, it’s arctic lime, maybe peridot.” “Okay,” he said. His name was Kenneth Peterman and he wore kelly-green trousers and the...
A Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces

Along the block some people were out on their porches looking at him and the motorcycle. The shutters across the street that slowly flipped up and down to get the proper focus indicated that he also had a considerable unseen audience, for a police motorcycle in the...
Night Boat To Tangier

Night Boat To Tangier

You know what I get to wondering, Maurice? Tell me, Charlie. About death, Moss. Here we go. Is it as raw a deal as they make it out to be? Come again? Is it not in some way an ease when she comes calling? The Black Angel? . . . Hush now . . . Listen? . . . The gentle...
Timbuktu

Timbuktu

He spent the night in a vacant lot, cowering under a profusion of weedy growths and pinprick stars, barely able to keep his eyes shut for more than five unbroken minutes. Bad as the day had been, the night was even worse, for this was the first night he had ever spent...
The Day It Rained Forever

The Day It Rained Forever

And The Rock Cried Out “When I was a young man I was very full of wildness and ideas. I read all of the books from France by a man named Jules Verne. I see you know his name. But at night I many times thought I must be an inventor. That is all gone by; I never...
Dr. No

Dr. No

I recall that I am extremely forgetful. I believe I am. I think I know that I am forgetful. Though I remember having forgotten, I cannot recall what it was that I forgot or what forgetting feels like. When I was a kid, my mother tried to convince me that I was...