Come then, and let us pass a leisure hour in storytelling, and our story shall be the education of our heroes. -- PLATO, Republic, Book II
I enquire now as to the genesis of a philologist and assert the following: 1. A young man cannot possibly know what Greeks and Romans are. 2. He does not know whether he is suited for finding out about them. -- FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen
Dedication
For Bret Easton Ellis, whose generosity will never cease to warm my heart; and for Paul Edward McGloin, muse and Maecenas, who is the dearest friend I will ever have in this world.
First words
The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation. (Prologue)
Does such a thing as "the fatal flaw," that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature?
Quotations
Last words
I watched his back receding down the long, gleaming hall.
