"Chapter one..." "He adored New York City." "He idolized it all out of proportion." "Uh, no, make that... he romanticized it all out of proportion... better." "To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed... in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin." "Uh, no, let me start this over." "Chapter one..." "He was too romantic... about Manhattan as he was about everything else." "He thrived on the hustle bustle of the crowds and the traffic." "To him, New York meant beautiful women and street-smart guys... who seemed to know all the angles." "Nah, no, corny..." "too corny for my taste." "Let me try and make it more profound." "Chapter one..." "He adored New York City." "To him, it was a metaphor... for the decay of contemporary culture." "The same lack of individual integrity... that caused so many people to take the easy way out... was rapidly turning the town of his dreams in..." "No, it's gonna be too preachy." "Let's face it, I wanna sell some books here." "Chapter one..." "He adored New York City... although to him, it was a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture." "How hard it was to exist in a society desensitized... by drugs, loud music, television, crime, garbage." "Too angry." "I don't wanna be angry." "Chapter one..." "He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved." "Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat." "I love this." "New York was his town." "And it always would be." "I think the essence of art is to provide... a kind of working through the situation for people, you know, so that... you can get in touch with feelings you didn't know you had, really." "Talent is luck." "I think the important thing in life is courage." "They've had this argument for 20 years." "Listen to this example I'm gonna give." "If the four of us are walking home over the bridge... and then there was a person drowning in the water... would one of us have the nerve to dive into the icy water... and save the person there from drowning?" "That's a key question." "I, of course, can't swim, so I never have to face it." "Which of us would do it?" "You want a little more?" "Don't be mad." " That is so great." " You don't smoke." "I know I don't smoke." "I don't inhale because it gives you cancer... but I look so incredibly handsome with a cigarette... that I can't not hold one." "I know this." "You like the way I look?" "I know." " Provocative." " I'm getting through to you, right?" "You'll have to excuse me." "Jesus, she's gorgeous." "But she's 17." "I'm 42, and she's 17." "I'm older than her father." "Do you believe that?" "I'm dating a girl wherein I can beat up her father." "That's the first time that phenomenon ever occurred in my life." "He's drunk." "You're drunk." "You know, you should never drink." " Did I tell you that my ex-wife..." " Who?" "Tina?" "My second ex-wife... is writing a book about our marriage and the breakup?" " That's really tacky." " It's really depressing." "You know, she's gonna give all those details out... all my little idiosyncrasies and my quirks and mannerisms... not that I have anything to hide because, you know... but there's are a few disgusting little moments that I regret." "It's just gossip." "Gossip is the new pornography in the daily newspapers." "I know." " You should never let yourself drink." " We should go." "I have an exam tomorrow." "Do you?" "The kid's gotta get up and..." "She's got homework." "I'm dating a girl who does homework." "What is it?" "What's the matter with you?" "Where are you now?" "Your mind is like a million miles away someplace." "Yeah, I have something I wanna talk to you about." "I just didn't know quite how to get into it." "L..." "About seven or eight weeks ago, I went to this dinner party... and I met a woman there... and I got kind of involved with her." " You're kidding?" " It started out very casually." "We had lunch a couple of times, and now, it's getting out of hand." "And I don't know what to do about it." "I mean, I'm... it's scary." "What..." "Who is she?" "What are the details?" "Well, she's a journalist." " She's very..." " Is she married?" "No, no, no." "She's very beautiful." "She's very, you know, kind of nervous, high-strung, elusive." "Great, it sounds wonderful." "Oh, she is wonderful." "She's on my mind all the time." "What are you telling me?" "That you're marriage is..." "I mean, how serious is it?" "I don't know." "I'm..." "But it's pretty serious." " But you haven't said anything to Emily?" " God, no." "It's amazing." "I'm stunned, because of all the people that I know..." "I always thought for sure that you and Emily had one of the best marriages." "We do." "You know, I mean, I love her." " Yeah, but you're seeing..." " I know it, I know." "I just, I mean, in all the years that we've been married..." "I've had one or two very minor things with other women." "I mean, very..." "Listen, I hate the whole idea of it." "I hate myself when I'm doing this sort of thing." " Well, I don't know." " But this is not like that." "This is terrible." "I, you know, listen..." "You shouldn't ask me for advice." "When it comes to relationships with women..." "I'm the winner of the August Strindberg Award." "Well, I don't think 17 is too young." "Beside that, she's a bright girl." "Well, you get no argument from me." "I think she's terrific." "He could do a lot worse." "He has done a lot worse." "I just think he's wasting his life." "He writes that crap for television." "Have you ever thought anymore about having kids?" "Oh, my God, kids." "I gotta get this O'Neill book finished." "It's never gonna get done." "I've gotta get the money together to get this magazine started." "Kids." "Well, we always talk about getting a place in Connecticut." " You could do it there." " Connecticut." " Yeah." " I can't go to Connecticut." "It's not practical." "Look, all my stuff s here." "My work's here." "It's just the wrong time." "What about Isaac?" "I mean, we can't abandon him, you know?" "He can't function anywhere other than in New York." "You know that." "Very Freudian." " You writing a book about our marriage?" " Will you leave me alone?" "Are you writing something about our breakup?" "Just tell me." "We've said everything that needs to be said to each other." "I happen to know you are, because I have a friend at Random House, okay?" " I'm free to do as I please." " Yeah, but this affects me." " I'm in a rush." " You're gonna tell everything, right?" "Our life, our sexual life, all the details, right?" " Do you spy on me?" " No, I don't have to spy." "I was at a party, and a guy said he read an advance chapter... of a book that my wife was writing, and it was hot stuff." "He said it was hot stuff." "I spilled wine on my pants." " I don't care to discuss it." " You don't care to discuss it." " How's Willie?" " Fine." "Give me some details." "What do you mean, "fine"?" "Does he play baseball?" "Does he wear dresses?" "What?" "He doesn't wear dresses." "You'll find out all the details when it's your turn to see him." "Don't write this book." "It's a humiliating experience." "It's an honest account of our breakup." "Jesus, everybody that knows us is gonna know everything." "Look at you, you're so threatened." "I'm not threatened, because I... of the two of us..." "I was not the immoral, psychotic, promiscuous one." "I hope I didn't leave out anything." "Are you telling me that I'm..." "that you've had three affairs before me?" "That's really hard to believe." "You know, it's mind-boggling." "When I was your age, I was still being tucked in by my grandparents." "They were really immature boys." "They were nothing like you." "Yeah, what does that mean?" "Well, I told you before..." "I think I'm in love with you." "Don't get carried away, okay?" "This is a terrific thing." "Move over." "You know, and it's a wonderful..." "We're having a great time and all that, but you're a kid." "I never want you to forget that." "You're gonna meet a lot of terrific men in your life and..." "I want you to enjoy me... my wry sense of humor and astonishing sexual technique." "But never forget that you've got your whole life ahead of you." " Don't you have any feelings for me?" " How can you ask that question?" "Of course." "I've got nothing but feelings for you... but you don't wanna get hung up with one person at your age." "It's charming, you know, and erotic." "No question about that." "As long as the cops don't burst in, we're..." "I think we're gonna break a couple of records, you know." "But you can't... you can't do it." "It's not a good thing." "You should think of me, sort of, as a detour on the highway of life." "So get dressed because I think you gotta get outta here." " Don't you want me to stay over?" " I don't want you to get in the habit." "The first thing you know, you stay over one night and then two nights... and then, you know, you're living here." " That doesn't sound too bad." " No, it's not such a great idea." "You won't like it." "Believe me." "I'm tough to get along with." "Tomorrow we'll go to the Bleeker Street Cinema... and I'll show you the Veronica Lake movie, okay?" "All right." "Veronica Lake's the pinup with the red hair?" "No, that's Rita Hayworth." "Do we have to go over this all the time?" " Rita who?" " Rita Hayworth." " Are you joking with me?" "I never know." " Of course I'm joking." "Do you think I'm unaware of any event pre-Paul McCartney or something?" " I find these photographs interesting." " Yeah, so do I." " Do you ever use the camera I got you?" " Yeah, all the time." " I was taking pictures in drama class." " Were you?" "It's fun." "It's really neat." "You sound like the mouse in the Tom andJerry cartoons when you talk." " Are you kidding me?" " No, I figured it out." "You should talk." "You have a whiney voice." "You sound exactly like the mouse." "It's really an art." "I know I'm a whiner." "What are you doing here?" "How long have you been here?" " We were just talking about you." " That's hilarious." "What're you..." "You walking around behind us or what?" " How are you?" " Okay, good." "That's so funny." "We're all gonna do that Shakespeare in the Park thing this weekend." " See if we can go ahead and do that." " That would be fun." "This is my friend, Mary Wilke." "Isaac Davis and Tracy." " How do you do?" "How are you?" " Nice to meet you." " You too, you too." " Hello." "We were downstairs at the Castelli Gallery, saw the photo exhibition." " Incredible, absolutely incredible." " It's really good." " Really, you liked that?" " The photographs downstairs?" "Great, absolutely great." " Did you?" " I felt it was very derivative." "To me, it looked like it was straight out of Diane Arbus, but none of the wit." "Really?" "We didn't like 'em as much as the Plexiglas sculpture." "Really?" "You liked the Plexiglas?" "You didn't like the Plexiglas sculpture either?" "That's interesting." "It was a hell of a lot better than that steel cube." "Did you see that?" " That was the worst." " That was absolutely brilliant to me." " The steel cube was brilliant?" " Yes." "To me, it was very textural." "You know what I mean?" "It was perfectly integrated." "It had a marvelous kind of negative capability." "The rest of the stuff downstairs was bullshit." " You wanna go see the Sol LeWitts?" " Sure, that'd be fun." "Wanna see it?" "He's having an opening at the Modern." "I'm doing a piece on Sol for Insight." "Do you know that magazine?" "It's one of those little magazines." "I mean, they're such schmucks up there." "Really mired in '30s radicalism." "What do you do, Tracy?" " I go to high school." " Oh, really." "Somewhere Nabokov is smiling, if you know what I mean." "I think Lewitt's overrated." "I think he may be a candidate for the old academy." "Mary and I invented the Academy of the Overrated..." " That's right..." " for such notables as..." " Gustav Mahler, Scott Fitzgerald." " And Isaac Denison and CarlJung." "Lenny Bruce." "We can't forget Lenny Bruce now, can we?" " Norman Mailer and Walt Whitman..." " Those people are all terrific." " Who's that great one you had last week?" " No, I didn't." "It was yours." " Heinrich Böll, wasn't it?" " Overrated?" " We don't wanna leave out..." " Gee, what about Mozart?" "You guys don't wanna leave out Mozart, I mean, while you're trashing people." "Oh, how about Vincent Van Gogh or Ingmar Bergman?" " Did she say "Van Gogh"?" " How about Ingmar Bergman?" " You'll get in trouble with Bergman." " What do you mean?" "Bergman's the only genius in cinema today I think." "He's a big Bergman fan, you know." "You're so the opposite." "You write that absolutely fabulous TV show." "It's brilliantly funny, and his view is so Scandinavian." "It's bleak, my God." "I mean, all that Kierkegaard, right?" "Real adolescent, fashionable pessimism." "I mean, the silence, God's silence." "Okay, okay, okay, I mean, I loved it when I was at Radcliffe... but you outgrow it, you absolutely outgrow it." "Get her away from me." "I don't think I can take too much more of her." "Don't you guys see that it is the dignifying... of one's own psychological and sexual hang-ups... by attaching them to these grandiose philosophical issues?" " That's what it is." " Here we are." "Listen, it was very nice meeting you." "It was a pleasure and a sincere sensation... but we have to go because we gotta do some shopping." "Listen, I don't even wanna have this conversation." "I mean, really, I'm just from Philadelphia." " We believe in God, so, okay?" " What the hell does that mean?" "What is it?" "What'd you..." "What'd she mean?" "What do you mean?" ""I'm from Philadelphia." "I believe in God." What..." "Does this make any sense to you at all?" " What a creep." "Could you believe her?" " She seemed real nervous." "Nervous?" "She was overbearing." "She was, you know, terrible." "She was all cerebral." "Where the hell does a little Radcliffe tootsie come off... rating Scott Fitzgerald, Gustav Mahler and then Heinrich Böll?" " Why are you so mad?" " I don't like pseudo-intellectual trash." "She was pedantic." "Van Gogh." "Did you hear that?" "She said Van Gogh." "I couldn't..." "Like an Arab she spoke." "If she made one more remark about Bergman..." "I would've knocked her other contact lens out." " Is she Yale's mistress?" " That will never cease to mystify me." "He's got a wonderful wife, and he prefers to diddle this little yo-yo." "But he was always a sucker for those kind of women... you know, the kind that involve him in discussions of existential reality." "They probably sit around on the floor with wine and cheese... and mispronounce "allegorical" and "didacticism."" "I get the feeling that Yale really likes her." "I'm old-fashioned." "I don't believe in extramarital relationships." "I think people should mate for life like pigeons or Catholics." "I don't know, maybe people weren't meant to have one deep relationship." "Maybe we were meant to have, you know, a series of relationships... of different lengths." "That kind of thing's gone out of date." "Hey, don't tell me what's gone out of date, okay?" "You're 17 years old." "You were brought up on drugs and television and the pill." "I was World War Two." "I was in the trenches." " You were eight in World War Two." " Right." "I was never in the trenches." "I was caught in the middle." "It was a very tough position." "Get the groceries, will you?" "Good morning and welcome to Human Beings Wow." "We're talking this evening with Gregory and Caroline Payne Whitney Smith... who are very close friends of the Carter family, right?" "We're normal people, just like you who are in debt." "Except for the fact that Mrs. Payne Whitney Smith is a catatonic, correct?" "Well, we don't consider her a catatonic." "We just kind of consider her quiet." "Jesus, this is the worst." "This is really embarrassing to me." "I mean, this is so antiseptic." "It's nothing like what we talked about." " That's not antiseptic." " This has nothing..." " That's very chancy material." " How do you see this as chancy?" " Who fights more with the censor?" " It's empty." "What has the censor got to do with it?" "It's empty." "There's no substance to it." " You don't find this insightful?" " It's worse than not insightful." "It's not funny." "There's not a legitimate laugh in that." " Where do you see that's funny?" " Look at the audience." "You're going by the audience reaction to this?" "An audience raised on TV?" "Their standards have been systematically lowered over the years." "These guys sit in front of their sets... and the gamma rays eat the white cells of their brains out." " I quit." " Relax." "Take a lude." "I can't write this anymore." "I can't." "I don't want a lude." "All you guys do is drop ludes and then take Percodans and angel dust." " Naturally, it seems funny." " You know, just relax." "Anything would if you're..." "You should abandon the show and open a pharmaceutical house." " Look, you..." "Relax." "You're being silly." " I quit." "She's a little bit nervous." "I'm just gonna do this." " We've talked about this." " Don't break her neck there." "No, I won't." "That's fine." "What did I do?" "I made a terrible mistake." "Stop it." "This is the first smart thing you've ever done for yourself." "For about 30 seconds, I was a big hero." "Now, it's unemployment." "If you need to borrow any money, I'll take care of it." "What's money got to do..." "I've got enough for a year." "If I live like Mahatma Gandhi, I'm fine." "My accountant says that I did this at a very bad time." "My stocks are down." "I'm cash poor or something." "I got no cash flow." "I'm not liquid, or something's not flowing." "They got a language all their own, those guys." "We discussed this." "It's difficult to live in this town without a big income." "Plus, I got two alimonies and child support, and I gotta cut down." "I'm gonna have to give up my apartment, my tennis lessons." "I'm not gonna pick the checks up at dinner." "I won't be able to take the Southampton house." "You know, plus, I'll probably have to give my parents less money." "This is gonna kill my father." "He's not gonna be able to get as good a seat in the synagogue." "This year he's gonna be in the back, away from God, far from the action." "What about Tracy?" "Have you said anything to her?" "What is it?" "I gotta get out of that situation." "She's a young girl." "What am I..." "I'm..." "It's ridiculous." "I mean, what happens if the year goes by and my book doesn't come out?" "Your book is gonna come out." "Your book is gonna be wonderful." "At worst, you're gonna learn something about yourself, right?" "Listen, I'm really proud of you." "This is a very good move." "This is a wonderful turnout... and the Museum of Modern Art has been very generous." "And the proof of the strength of the Equal Rights Amendment... is that so many of you who would never do it before... put on a black tie tonight." "We love you for it." "We need you, and you've come through." "Now, no more talk, enjoy yourselves." "What are you doing here?" "Nice to see you." "Congratulations on your book." "I thought it was terrific." " Thanks." " Absolutely terrific." " Nice to see you." " Meet my friend, Isaac Davis." " Hi, how do you do?" " How are you?" " Isaac, hello." "Hi." " What are you doing here?" "Well, I'm here." "Of course, I'm here." "What a funny coincidence." "We met before." "We met." "We know one another." " I'm sorry." " No, it's all right." "I heard you quit your job." "Yeah, real self-destructive impulse." "I wanna write a book." "Has anybody read that Nazis are gonna march in New Jersey?" "I read this in the newspaper." "We should go down there, get some guys together... get some bricks and baseball bats and really explain things to 'em." "There was this devastating satirical piece on that on the Times op-ed page." "A satirical piece in the Times is one thing... but bricks and baseball bats really gets right to the point down there." "But really biting satire is always better than physical force." "Physical force is always better with Nazis... because it's hard to satirize a guy with shiny boots on." " You get emotional, I know." " We were talking about orgasms." " No, please, wait." " Really?" "I'm sorry." " Give me a break." " We were." "I'm from Philadelphia." "We don't talk about that in public." "You said that the other day." "I didn't know what it meant then, either." "I'm just about to direct a film of my own script... and the premise is:" "This guys screws so great..." " Screws so great?" " Screws so great... that when he brings a woman to orgasm, she's so fulfilled that she dies." "Now this one... excuse me..." "finds this hostile." "Hostile?" "God, it's worse than hostile." "It's aggressive-homicidal." " She dies?" " You have to forgive Dennis." " He's Harvard direct to Beverly Hills." " Is that where you're from?" "It's Theodor Reik with a touch of Charles Manson." "Right." "I finally had an orgasm, and my doctor told me it was the wrong kind." "Did you have the wrong kind?" "I've never had the wrong kind ever." "My worst one was right on the money." " Good night." "It was nice to meet you." " Same here." " Bye-bye." " Bye." "It's an interesting group of people your friends are." " I know." " It's like a cast of a Fellini movie." "They're such fun." "They're such wonderful people." "Helen is really a good friend." "She's a very brilliant woman, you know." " Is she?" " She's really a genius." "I met her through my ex-husband, Jeremiah." "How come you guys got divorced?" "That's something I never..." "I don't understand." "What do you mean, how come we got divorced?" "What kind of question is that?" "I hardly even know you at all." "No, you don't have to tell me if you don't." "I'm just curious." "We had a lot of problems." "We fought a lot." "I was tired of submerging my identity to a very brilliant, dominating man." " He's a genius." " He was a genius..." "Helen's a genius, and Dennis is a genius." "You know a lot of geniuses." "You should meet some stupid people once in a while." "You could learn something." "Okay, tell me, why'd you get a divorce?" "Why?" "I got a divorce because my ex-wife left me for another woman." "Okay?" "Really?" "God, that must've been demoralizing." "Well, I don't know." "I thought I took it rather well under the circumstances." "I tried to run 'em both over with a car." "I can't imagine." "That's incredible sexual humiliation." "It's enough to turn you off of women." "I think it accounts for the little girl." "Hey, the little girl is fine." "Jesus." "What's with the little girl?" "Oh, sure, I understand, believe me." "Sixteen years old, no possible threat." "She's 17." "She's gonna be eight..." "Sometimes you have a losing personality." "I'm honest." "What do you want?" "I say what's on my mind." "If you can't take it, then fuck off." "I like the way you express yourself too." "It's pithy, yet degenerate." " You get many dates?" "I don't think so." " I do." "Actually, now I do." "You'll never believe this, but I never thought I was very pretty." "Oh, what is pretty anyway?" "I hate being pretty." "It's so subjective." "The brightest men just drop dead in front of a beautiful face." "The minute you climb into the sack, if you're the least bit giving... they're so grateful." " Yeah, I know I am, you know." " Do you have any kids?" "Me?" "Yeah." "I got a kid who's being raised by two women at the moment." "I think that works." "I read a study in one of the psychoanalytic quarterlies." "You don't need a male." "Two mothers are absolutely fine." "I always feel very few people survive one mother." "Well, listen, I gotta get my dog." "You wanna wait?" "I gotta walk it." " Are you in a rush or something?" " No." "Sure." "What kind of dog you got?" "The worst." "It's a dachshund." "It's a penis substitute for me." "I would've thought then in your case, a Great Dane." " So, are you serious with Yale or what?" " Serious?" " Yeah." "You know, I mean, he's married." " So what?" "I don't know." "I guess I should straighten my life out, huh?" "Donny, my analyst, is always telling me..." " You call your analyst Donny?" " Yeah, I call him Donny." " You call him Donny, your analyst?" " Yes." "I call mine Dr. Chomsky." "Yeah, or he hits me with the ruler." "Anyway, Donny tells me that I get involved in these situations... and that it's deliberate." "Especially with my ex-husband, Jeremiah." "You know, I mean, I was his student and..." " Really?" "You married your teacher?" " Yeah, yeah, of course." " That's very..." " He failed me, and I fell in love." " That's perfect." " I know." "I was sleeping with him, and he had the nerve to give me an "F."" " Really?" " Yeah, really." "No kidding?" "Not even an incomplete?" "Just a straight "F."" "You know, you've got a good sense of humor." "You actually do." "Thanks." "I don't need you to tell me that." "I've been making good money off it for years... till I quit my job to write this book." "Now, I'm very nervous about it, you know." "Do you wanna..." "Oh, you don't have to pay for it." " That's okay." " No, I'm serious." "Let's walk." " You know what time it is now?" " What do you mean?" "If I don't get at least 16 hours, I'm a basket case." "I'd like to hear about your book." "I really would." "I'm a good editor." " Yeah?" " Uh-huh." "My book is about decaying values." "It's about..." "See, the thing is, years ago, I wrote a short story about my mother... called "The Castrating Zionist."" "I wanna expand it into a novel." " That's good." " I can talk about my book all night." "Isn't it beautiful out?" "Yeah, it's really so pretty when the light starts to come up." "I know, I love it." "Boy..." "This is really a great city." "I don't care what anybody says." "It's just so..." "It's really a knockout, you know?" "Yeah." "I think I better head back." "I have an appointment with Yale for lunch later on." "Mm, hi." "No, I'm awake." "Jesus, what're you doing?" "It's 7:15." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "Really?" "You did, at the museum?" "Yeah, well, she's very active in the feminist movement." "So you're gonna go apartment-hunting with Tracy?" "Yeah, well, you know, you should be able to find something." "It's Isaac." "Yeah, I don't think you'll have any trouble." "Yeah, well, I knew you'd..." "See, she's a terrific woman if you spent some time with her." "And you still feel the same way about her?" "You still feel hung up on her?" "You hadn't mentioned it in a while." "So you..." "Yeah." "Right." "I know." "She's great, I know." "So, no, I gotta go apartment-hunting today." "I have to get something cheaper." "I can't keep living, you know, where I do." "It's just..." " Isaac's terrific, isn't he?" " Mm, yeah." " He said he had a great time with you." " Did he really?" "That's good." "That's funny, 'cause I always think that he's uncomfortable around me." "Come on." "I missed you so much." " It's terrible." " This is just ridiculous." "You're married." "It's..." "Listen." "I'm beginning to sound like I'm one of those women." "It sounds terrible." "I hate it." " Why don't I just move out?" " No, I don't want you to do that." "I don't wanna break up a marriage." "Besides, I'm not looking for any big involvement here." "It's just..." "I don't..." "It's crazy." "It's crazy." "I think about you when you're not around." " What do you want me to do?" " Nothing." "I don't know." "I really don't know." "I just..." "I guess I should see someone who's not married." " God, you are so beautiful." " Oh, Yale, stop it." "Stop it." "We're in the middle of Bloomingdale's, and somebody's gonna see us." "Oh, did I tell you?" "I think I may have an interview with Borges." "I told you that we met before when he was here." "He seems to feel very comfortable around me." " Let's go somewhere and make love." " What do you mean?" "Not now." "Not now." "Jesus." "You've got a writing class in an hour." "Your students are gonna know." "You're gonna have this... this big grin on your face." "And I don't wanna go to your house 'cause I can't stand the dog..." " Why can't you?" " And the telephone ringing all the time." "Thank you." "Can't you just hold me?" "Does your love for me always have to express itself sexually?" "What about other values, like warmth and spiritual contact?" "A hotel, right?" "Jesus, I'm a pushover anyway." " Hi." "Is Willie ready?" " Yeah, come on in." " He'll be right down." " How you been, Ike?" " Good." "How you been?" " I've been terrific." " Yeah?" " Yeah, been getting lots of work done." "Things are going really well." " You want some coffee or something?" " No." "How's Willie doing?" "Willie's fine." "He's beginning to show some real talent in drawing." "Yeah?" "Where does he get that?" "'Cause you and I don't draw." "I draw." "Yep, but there's no way that you could be the actual father." "I'm hoping that you'll take Willie the weekend of the 16th... 'cause Connie and I are thinking of going to Barbados." "Let me ask you..." "Are you still gonna write that stupid book?" "You serious?" "I'm very serious about it." "It's an honest book." "Don't be ashamed." "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "Excuse me for a minute." "Let me ask you something." "Here's what I still don't understand." "Where are you running?" "All the times I come over here..." "I can't understand how you prefer her to me." " You can't understand that?" " No, it's a mystery to me." " You knew my history when we married." " Yeah, I know, my analyst warned me... but you were so beautiful that I got another analyst." " You think we can be ever just friends?" " You putting in all the details?" "No, I won't dwell on the part where you tried to run her over with a car." "I tried to run her over with a car?" "What are you talking about?" "It was late at night." "You know I don't drive well." "It was raining." "It was dark." "What were you doing, lurking around outside the cabin anyway?" "I was spying on you guys 'cause I knew what was happening." "You were falling in love." "So you felt you had to run her over with a car?" "Do I look like the type of person that would run someone over in a car?" " You know how slowly I was going?" " Not slowly enough... that you didn't rip the whole front porch of the cabin off." "Get the kid." "I can't have this argument with you every time I come over." " The stupidest thing." " You look funny in that jacket." "I know." "I had hoped for something in a gabardine." "It's crazy, isn't it?" " So, do you miss me?" " Yeah." "Do you miss me?" "Of course I miss you." "I love you." "That's why I come get you all the time." "Why can't we have frankfurters?" "Because this is the Russian Tea Room." "You wanna have a blintz or something." "A frankfurter gives you cancer anyhow." "Besides, did you see those two women?" "They have very beautiful women that eat here." "You know, we could do very well." "We could've picked these two up." "I'm serious." "I think the brunette liked you." "Hello, Yale?" "I'm sorry for calling." "No, nothing's wrong." "I've..." "Well, I don't know." "I just thought that it's, you know..." "It's Sunday out, and I thought maybe if you could get away... we could go for a walk." "That's right." "You mentioned that." "It was just a shot." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Well, I won't keep you." "Okay." "Bye-bye." "Hello?" "How you doing?" "No, no, not at all." "I was just sitting around..." "looking through the magazine section." "I didn't read the piece on China's faceless masses." "I was checking out the lingerie ads." "Yeah, I can never get past them." "They're really erotic." "You wanna go for a walk?" "I don't know." "I've gotta get out." "I'm going stir-crazy here... and Yale's with Emily's parents." "It's such a beautiful Sunday." "Come on, it's an electrical storm." "You wanna wind up in an ashtray?" " It was such a beautiful day out." " Yeah, wonderful." "Jesus, I think I heard the Chrysler Building blow up." " Oh, no, thunder scares me." "Here." " Come on." " It's not my favorite sound either." " Oh, God!" "Do you know, every year... one or two people get killed during an electrical storm in Central Park?" "Yeah, why don't I run up ahead and we'll talk later in the week?" "Jesus Christ, I'm soaking wet." "This is awful." "You look ridiculous." "You know that?" "Next time you wanna take a Sunday walk, get somebody else." "I've never seen anyone react so strongly to a little bit of rain." "It wasn't the water." "It was electricity." "I don't wanna get hit by lightning." "I'll turn into one of those guys that sells comic books near Bloomingdale's." " Do you think I look terrible?" " Let's see." " How do I look?" " Can't see." "You should see your face." "You look kinda nice actually." "You're sort of pretty." " I'm really annoyed with Yale." " Why?" "He was supposed to see me today, and then he couldn't." "I had tickets to this Vivaldi concert last night." "He had to cancel on me." " That's what happens when you're..." " I know." "When you're having an affair with a married man." " What a terrible way to put it." " Hey, I didn't put it that way." "My ex-husband was having an affair while we were married, and I never..." " Really?" " Yeah, at least one that I know of." "I never mentioned anything because I felt I was deficient in some way... that I was bad in bed, or I wasn't bright enough... that I was physically unattractive." "But I'll tell you something." "In the end, he was just a louse." " Yeah, I know, an intellectual louse." " Oh, God, was he brilliant." "I was so crazy about him." "He really opened me up sexually." "He taught me everything." "Women found him devastating." "Look, there's Saturn." "Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun." "How many of Saturn's satellites can you name?" "There's Mimas, Titan, Dione, Hyperion, of course." "I can't name any of them." "Fortunately, they never come up in conversation." "Facts." "Yeah, I've got a million facts on my fingertips." "That's right, and they don't mean a think, right?" "Because nothing worth knowing can be understood with the mind." "Everything really valuable has to enter you through a different opening... if you'll forgive the disgusting imagery." "I really don't agree at all." "Where would we be without rational thought?" "You rely too much on your brain." "The brain is the most overrated organ, I think." "I know you." "You probably think I'm too cerebral." "Well, you are, you know, kinda on the brainy side." "What's the difference what I think about you?" "God knows what you think of me." "I think you're fine." "Are you kidding?" "You have a little hostile tendency... but I find that attractive." "Oh, yeah?" "Well, I'm glad you do." "So, you think I have no feelings, is that it?" "Well, you, I..." "You're so sensitive." "Jesus, I never said that." "I think you're terrific." "Really, I think, you know, I just..." "You're very insecure." "I really think you're wonderful, really." "What do you think?" "It's probably stopped raining out." "You wanna grab a bite or something like that?" "I gotta see somebody this evening." "I don't know if it's such a great idea." "Right." "Well, so what about some time next week?" "I might give you a call." "Do you have any free time?" "I don't think I'm gonna have any free time, you know, 'cause..." "I don't think it's such a great idea for me." "I'm working on this book." "And it's, you know, it takes a lot of my energy up." "Okay, yeah." "Well, your parents are in a good mood." "I almost had a good time." "Who was that you called after dinner?" "David Cohen." "He wants me to review the new book on Virginia Woolf." "He's written another one, if you can believe it." " Are you okay?" " Yeah, I'm fine." "What do you mean?" "You seem sort of nervous." "Nah, I'm not." "I feel good." "I was gonna ask you." " No, I'm okay." " You seemed strange at dinner." "Well, I just..." "more thoughts about kids." "Come on." "Listen, I told Cohen I'd stop by and pick up the book." "Is that okay?" "Yeah." "Hey, it's not too crowded." "No, not too bad for Sunday." "I thought it would be jammed." "So did I." "I'm glad you could get out tonight, 'cause I really did want to see you." "I like it when you get an uncontrollable urge." "Yeah, I know, it's my best feature..." "my boyish impetuosity." "You look adorable." "So, I have a chance to go to London and study... with the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts." " Really?" "When did that happen?" " The other day." "I got a letter." "That's great." "You have..." "That's terrific." "I don't wanna go without you." "I can't go to London and study." "It's crazy, especially Shakespeare." "I don't look good in leotards or anything like that." " I'm serious." " Of course you should go." "It's great." "You'll have a great time in London." "It's a great town, and you're a wonderful actress." "It's a terrific place to study." "You'll be the toast of the town." "You'll have a good time, really." " You shouldn't pass that." " So what happens to us?" "You know, we'll always have Paris." "I'm kidding." "What kind of question is that?" "You know you can't think of that now." "You won't take me seriously just because I'm 17." "Yeah, exactly, 'cause you're 17." "I mean, it's ridiculous." "You're 17 now, when you're 36, I'll be... 63." "63, right." "Thank you." "It's absurd." "You'll be at the height of your sexual powers." "Of course, I will too, probably, but I'm a late starter." " Who ordered a plain pie?" " Me." "So you must be anchovies, sausage, mushrooms, garlic and green peppers." "You forgot the coconut." "What do you wanna do tonight?" "Anything." "We'll go to the movies." "I'll take you dancing." "Whatever." " Anything, huh?" " Absolutely anything." " Okay, I know what we can do." " Get that filthy look off your face." "Shut up." "It's not filthy." "This is so corny." "I can't believe this." "Is this what you wanted to do?" "This was your one wish?" "I don't think it's corny." "I think it's fun." "I really do." "It is fun, but I did this when I was a kid, you know." "Yeah, well, I've never done it." "I think it's great." "On my prom night, I went around this park five, six times." "If I had been with a girl, this would've been an incredible experience." "Quit fighting it." "You know you're crazy about me." "I am." "You're God's answer toJob." "You would've ended all argument between them." "He would've pointed to you and said..." ""I do a lot of terrible things, but I can also make one of these."" "And then Job would've said, "Okay, well, you win."" "Now, look, this is crazy." "I can't do this anymore." "It's really bullshit." "You know what I mean?" "You're married." "And I expected to see you this weekend and I sit around." "I got nothing to do." "So I called Isaac." "We went for a walk." "I was just lucky he was free." "I know, I know, I'm sorry." "It's not your fault." "What the hell..." "it's a no-win situation." "It's just, I'm beautiful and bright, and I deserve better." "I know." "What if I took some action?" "No, I'm not a home wrecker." "Fuck it." "I just don't know how I got into this situation." "I guess we met at the wrong time or something." "It happens." "Hello?" "Oh, hi, Harvey." "How are you?" "Uh, what?" "Why don't you bring it by on Thursday, and I'll read it then, okay?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay." "Right." "I'll talk to you later." "Okay." "Bye-bye." "God." " What do you want me to do?" " Nothing!" "It's just, we're going..." "Waffles, will you please stop that now?" "We're just going no place." "Excuse me." "Look, I know it's terrible." "I'm sitting up at Sneeden's Landing with Emily and her parents." "I love her." "I'm sitting around, thinking about you all the time." "I wanted to call you." "Oh, Christ." "I don't wanna hear about that." "I'm from Philadelphia." "My family's never had affairs." "My parents have been married 43 years." "Nobody cheats at all." "Hello?" "Oh, Donny, hi." "It's my analyst." "Hello." "Well, I think that'd be impossible." "Okay, well, why..." "probably later in the week." "Okay." "All right." "All right, I'll get back to you." "Okay, bye." "Relax." "Waffles, please." "Don't, please." "Please, just don't." "This is really a bad time..." "Waffles..." "a bad time for me." "I've gotta think things through." "Obviously I shouldn't have come here, right?" "No, probably not." "Listen to that." "How am I gonna get..." "What is that sound?" "Can you hear that?" "Just listen." "Where's it coming from?" "It's like somebody's playing the trumpet... like a guy who's..." "where somebody's sawing... like a man sawing a trumpet in half." " Right?" "It's like..." " Let's fool around." " You hear the sound?" " It'll take your mind off it." "How many times a night can you..." "How often can you make love an evening?" " A lot." " Yeah, I can tell." "A lot." "A lot is my favorite number." "Gee, really, can you?" "Let's do it some strange way you always wanted to do, but no one would do it." "I'm shocked." "What kind of talk is that from a kid your age?" "I'll get my scuba diving equipment, and I'll really show you..." " Take me seriously." " I do take you seriously." "Listen to this." "Can you hear this?" "Am I crazy?" "What?" "That's a rumbling." "Listen to that goddamn..." "Where the hell is that coming from?" " It's probably just the elevator shaft." " It's not the elevator shaft." "It's coming from the walls someplace." "It's a strange..." "Let's..." "Could we check into a hotel?" "I don't wanna sleep here." "I can't sleep here." "I can't." "Where's the aspirin?" " What'd you do with the aspirin?" " I'll help you fix this place up." "I don't wanna fix it up, and I don't want you living here." "Tonight is a special occasion." "It's my first night in the apartment... so it was okay." "I wanna break in the place, and I was afraid to sleep alone tonight." " What is this?" "There's brown water." " The pipes are rusty." " What is this, Tracy?" " The pipes are rusty." "Look at this." "It's brown water." "I'm paying $700 a month." "I got rats with bongos and a frog, and I got brown water here." "Look." " What's gonna happen to us?" " Disgusting." "I like colorless liquid." "Listen." "You keep ignoring me." "What's gonna happen with us?" "What do you mean, what's gonna happen with us?" "Do you have a good time with me?" "Aren't I a load of laughs and fun?" "Can't you tell from this evening?" "So that's it." "Then we have fun." "Then you're gonna go to London exactly as we discussed it." "You're gonna take advantage of that opportunity and study acting." "And you'll think of me always as a fond memory." "And be nice." "You know we have to stop seeing each other, don't you?" "Oh, yeah, right, I understand." "I could tell by the sound of your voice over the phone." "Very authoritative, you know, like the pope... or the computer in 2001." "It's not fair to you, and I don't know what the hell I'm doing." " Right." " Come on, don't be angry." "You brought this up to begin with." "You're not happy with things." "I'm not angry." "It's just that I knew it was gonna end this way." "Now that it's happened, I'm upset, okay?" "Look, you don't wanna make a commitment... and I don't wanna break up my marriage then find out we're no good together." "I've gotta start thinking about Emily." "Okay, you made your point." "It's very clear." "I'm just glad one of us had the nerve to end it." " Will you be all right?" " Yeah." "Of course, I'm gonna be all right." "Do you think I'm gonna hang myself?" "I'm a beautiful woman, young, highly intelligent." "I got everything going for me." "The point is that I don't know." "I'm all fucked-up." "I'm just..." "Shit." "The point is:" "What the hell am I doing in this relationship anyway?" "My phone never stops ringing." "I can go to bed with the entire faculty of M.I.T. If I wanted to." "It's just..." "I don't know." "I'm wasting myself on a married man." "Listen, I think I'd better go now." "I just want you to have this." "I got these tickets to see Rampal tonight." "Here, take them." " This is very hard on me too." " Take them and go with your wife." "Come on, you love Rampal." "Call somebody up." "Take Isaac." "Fuck off, Yale." "I know you're gonna think the water's a little brown, but you can drink it." "You know, it's..." "Don't get thrown by this." " I'm really sorry for bothering you." " No problem, really." "I didn't know..." "God, is this brown, isn't it?" "It is on the brown side, no question, but you get used to it after a while." " I didn't know who to call, that's all." " Don't take Valium." "They cause cancer." " No, half a Valium?" " Yeah, abdominal cancer." " When did they find that out?" " That's just my theory." "But I think it's correct." "I got tissues someplace." " I guess I deserve everything I get." " Oh, come on." "It's true, it's really true." "I knew it couldn't possibly work out." "Yeah, you pick a married guy and then... when it doesn't work out, it confirms your worst feelings." "What worst feelings?" "You know, your feelings about men and marriage and that nothing works." "Please, don't psychoanalyze me." "I pay a doctor for that." "You call that guy that you talk to a doctor?" "You don't get suspicious when your analyst calls you at 3:00 a.m., weeping?" "All right, so he's unorthodox." "He's a highly qualified doctor." "He's done a great job on you." "Your self-esteem's a notch below Kafka's." " Here, you can blow your nose." " What is that noise?" " Yeah, it's incredible, isn't it?" " Yeah." "There's a guy upstairs." "I don't know what the hell it is." "Every day." "It's like he's up there strangling a parrot or something." "I can't stand it." "How can you stand it?" "It's terrible." "It's awful." "I know." "I used to have a great apartment, but I can't afford it." "You wanna go for a walk?" "It's quieter in the street." " I think I'll just go home." " Come on." "He led me on." "That's the point." "Why am I reluctant to criticize him?" "Hey, relax." "Yale would not lead you on." "He's not that kind of a guy." "Don't defend him." "You guys all stick up for each other." "Yale has his problems as we all do." "I'm starting to sound like Rabbi Blitzstein here." "Listen, thanks for letting me come over." "I appreciate it." "It was nice of you." "Tracy and I are going out tonight if you wanna come along." "No, I'll be fine." "I'll be okay." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "That's a nice, healthy piece of towel paper you got." "Oh, Jesus, God." "Well, good-bye and thanks a lot." "Look at that guy's toupee." "That's unbelievable." " Really weird." " That is hilarious." "There's an inch of cheesecloth." "You can see it." "I don't know why his loved ones don't tell him." "It looks like the toupee dropped on his head from a window ledge... when he was walking, and no one..." "But look at his wife." "Her face looks like it was lifted 8,000 times." "I know." "It's so plastic, and it's so tight." " I hate that, I just hate that." " Her flesh is..." "Why can't they just age naturally instead of putting all that junk on?" "I know, it looks..." "Old faces are nice." "Yeah." "Great." "Be careful." "I think I got black bean sauce in the bed." " We're gonna sleep in that tonight." " The late show's a W.C. Fields film." "Great." "We gotta watch that." "Oh, God." "Boy, I really feel good." "I've got my life together finally." "Yeah?" "You know, I just had to cut this thing off finally." "I'm not the type for affairs." "I finally figured it out." "Do you ever hear from Mary or see her?" "No, we just cut it off." "I think it's easier that way." "She's a terrific person." "She deserves more than a fling with a married guy." "She's a little screwed up, but great." "That's right up your alley." "You ought to call her." "L-I should call her?" " Yeah." " Why should I call her?" "Because she likes you." "She told me she did." " You're crazy." " No, I'm not." "She said she finds you attractive." " She said she finds me attractive?" " Yeah." "When was this?" "She said it when she first met you." " I didn't know." " Sorry about that." "I always think of you two guys as together." " I don't think that I could" " It's over." "Unless you're serious about Tracy." "Are you serious about Tracy?" " Tracy's too young." " Then call her up." "Listen, she's an unhappy person." "I mean, she needs something in her life." "I think you guys would be good together." "I think I could be a good influence on her." "I think that under my personal vibrations..." "I could put her life in some kind of good order." "That's what you said aboutJill, and under your personal vibrations... she went from bisexuality to homosexuality." "Yeah, but I gave it the old college try there for a while." " Listen, you should call her up." " You're kidding." "What'd she say about me?" "She said that she likes you very much." "She thinks you're smart." " She thinks you're attractive." " Keep going." "Don't stop." " Really?" "No kidding." " Yeah." "To me, a great movie is with W.C. Fields." "That's what I like." "Grand Illusion, that's" "I see that every time it's on television, if I'm aware of it." "What do you got to eat here?" "Nothing, right?" "Oh,Jesus, what is this?" "You got a corned beef sandwich here... from 1 951 , I think." " Look at this." " I know." "I know." " I don't have time to cook." " Corned beef should not be blue." "Ooh, it's really terrible." " Hey." " What?" "Come here." " What are you doing?" " What am I doing?" "You have to ask what I'm doing?" "I was kissing you flush on the mouth." "I cannot get my life in any kind of order." "It's something I wanted to do for the longest time, and" " Yeah, I know." " Do you?" "I thought I was hiding it." "I was trying to be cool and casual." "I thought you wanted to kiss me that day at the planetarium." " Yeah, I did." " I thought so." "But you were going out with Yale then, and I'd never in a million years... interfere in anything like that." " Did you want me to kiss you then?" " I don't know what I wanted." "I was so angry at Yale that day." "But you were so sexy." "You were soaking wet from the rain... and I had a mad impulse to throw you down on the lunar surface... and commit interstellar perversion with you." "I can't go from relationship to relationship." "It's senseless." "I can't do it." "Well, are you still hung up on Yale?" "Is that the problem?" "I've got too many problems." "I'm just really" "I'm not the person to get involved with." "I'm trouble." "Honey, trouble is my middle name." " It is." " What are you saying?" "Actually, my middle name is Mortimer, but I" "I'm kidding." "My problem is I'm both attracted and repelled by the male organ." "So it doesn't make for very good relationships with men." "What about your relationships with women?" "You never really told me much about your first wife." "My first wife was a kindergarten teacher." "She got into drugs." "She moved to San Francisco... and went into EST, became a Moony." "She's with the William Morris Agency now." "Do you like that?" "This, I think, has a wonderful otherness to it, you know." "It's kind of got a marvelous negative capability... a kind of wonderful energy to it, don't you think?" "I thought that wine was wonderful." "Didn't you think?" "It just made my face all flushed and hot." "You look so beautiful, I can hardly keep my eyes on the meter." " It's 1 4 bucks to go there." " I know, but it was a great restaurant." " Didn't you love it?" " Yeah, I love seafood." "Of course, I'm drunk." "I don't know if you can tell or not." "That was the only time in my life I ever had Chianti from Warsaw." " Give me a kiss." " Okay." "What are you thinking?" "I was just thinking there must be something wrong with me... because I've never had a relationship with a woman... that's lasted longer than the one between Hitler and Eva Braun." "I think you're still drunk." "It's great." "It's" "I don't play the harmonica, but it's an incredible... harmonica is what it is." "You said you wanted to learn." "I'm trying to open up that side of you." "You're throwing away an enormous amount of real affection on the wrong person." "That's not wrong for me." "Listen, I don't" "I don't think we should keep seeing each other." "Why not?" "Because I think you're getting too hung up on me." "" Hung up on me." I'm starting to sound like you when I talk." "I'm not hung up on you." "I'm in love with you." "You can't be in love with me." "We've been over this." "You're a kid." "You don't know what love means." "I don't know what it means." "Nobody knows what the hell's going on." "We have laughs together." "I care about you." "Your concerns are my concerns." "We have great sex." "But you're 1 7 years old." "By the time you're 21 , you'll have a dozen relationships... believe me, far more passionate than this one." "Well, don't you love me?" "The truth is that I love somebody else." "You do?" "Hey, come on." "Will you?" "We" " You" "This was supposed to be a temporary fling." "You know that." "You met someone?" "Don't stare at me with those big eyes." "You look like one of those barefoot kids from Bolivia who needs parents." "Have you been seeing someone?" "No." "Yes." "Someone older." "You know, not as old as I am... but in the same general ball park as me." "Gee, now I don't feel so good." "It's not right." "You shouldn't get hung" "You should open up your life." "You should see" " You've got to." "You keep stating it like it's to my advantage... when it's you that wants to get out of it." "Hey, don't be so precocious, okay?" "Don't be so smart." "I'm 42 years old." "My hair's falling out." "I'm starting to lose some hearing in my right ear." "Is that what you want?" "I can't believe that you met somebody that you like better than me." "Why should I feel guilty about this?" "This is ridiculous." "I've always encouraged you to go out with guys more your own age... kids from your class." "Billy and Biff and Scooter, you know." "Little Tommy or Terry." "Come on." "Don't cry." "Don't cry." "Come on." "Don't cry." "Tracy, don't-- Come on." "Don't cry." "Just leave me alone." " Come on." "Don't" " Leave me alone." " That was wonderful." " Yeah, I'll say." " I love being in the country." " It's very relaxing." "Of course, the mosquitoes have sucked all the blood out of my left leg." " Apart from that, I'm in good shape." " Doesn't it make you feel better?" " I feel better about myself." " Yeah, you were dynamite." "Except I did get the feeling for about two seconds you were faking a little." "Not a lot." "You were just overacting when you dug your nails into my neck." "I thought you were just giving it a little" "Well, I don't know." "I guess I'm a little nervous around you still." " Still?" " Well, yeah." " It's so crazy." " I'd like everything to work out." "It will." "You should leave everything to me." "I'll make everything happen." "You don't have to worry." "Do you really promise?" "Because I do like you a lot." " I feel good around you." " I don't blame you." "Yeah, I mean-- I don't know." "Yale was absolutely great, but he was married." "And Jeremiah-- Look atJeremiah, my ex-husband." "He was just this oversexed brilliant kind of animal." "What am I, Grandma Moses?" "What do you mean?" "Not at all." "No, you're much different." " You're much different." " Yeah?" "You're someone I could, uh, I could imagine having children with." "Really?" "Well, hit the lights." "Go ahead." "Turn them out again." "We'll trade fours." "Well, we never see you anymore." "I've been working on my book." "I'm submerged, dedicated." "It's that girl you're seeing." "It's serious, isn't it?" " Well, it's serious." " When are we gonna get to meet her?" "I'm sure Yale would like to meet her." "We should go out sometime." "I don't understand." "Why does he need a car?" "A sudden urge to get a car." "He just wants it." "What can I tell you?" "Is there nothing I can do to dissuade you from this?" "It's so crazy." "They should ban all cars from Manhattan." "This is a real bargain." "Emily wants to know why I never bring Mary around." " Why don't you bring her around?" " Is it awkward for you or what?" "Stop it." "Are you kidding?" "I spoke to her about it." "It's no problem for her either." " Then why aren't we doing it?" " Well, you know" "Hey, don't get this thing." "I hate cars." " It screws up the environment." " This is a work of art." " This is Emily." " Hello." "Nice to meet you." " This is Yale." " Hi, Yale." "So, shall we go?" " Yeah, let's go." " Sure." "Look at that." "That building is almost completely torn down." "Can't they have those things declared landmarks?" "I once tried to block a demolition... getting some people to lay down in front of a building." "Some policeman stepped on my hand." "The city's really changing." "I need something that I can wear around the house... that doesn't make me look too Mexican." " Oh, my God,Jeremiah." " Hi." "This is my friend, Isaac Davis." "Hi." "Glad to meet you." " God, this is so incredible." " It's incredible." "I'm in town a few days." "There's a symposium on semantics." "You're just looking so great." "I just, uh" "You're so thin." "You lost a lot of weight, didn't you?" " I have an exercise machine." " Well, you really look good." " Really good." " God." "Well, I'm a bit late, but-- It's just so nice seeing you." "I read an article by you in the Atlantic on Brecht." "I know, Brecht." "Well, you know, I was always a sucker for Germanic theater." "Just great." " Okay, well, God." " Okay, so long." " Bye,Jeremiah." "God, what a surprise." "I cannot get over it." "My ex-husband, and he really does look a lot thinner." " He looks great." " You certainly fooled me." " What do you mean?" " This is not what I expected." " What did you expect?" " I don't know." "You had always led me to-- that he was a great ladies' man and opened you up sexually." " So?" " And then this little homunculus" " He's quite devastating." " Really?" "You know, I" "It's amazing how subjective all that stuff is." "Boy, you're really typing away in there." "It's a cinch." "Are you still reviewing "The Tolstoy Letters"?" "I finished that two days ago." "I'm on that novelization." "What do you waste your time with a novelization for?" "Why?" "Because it's easy, and it pays well." "It's like another contemporary American phenomenon... that's truly moronic-- the novelizations of movies." "You're much too brilliant for that." "You should be doing other stuff." " Like what?" " Like fiction." "I've seen your fiction." "It's terrific." "Hello?" "Hi, it's Yale." "I was hoping you'd pick up." "Listen, could we meet for coffee?" "Well, why?" "What is it?" "Well, you know, I miss you... and I thought maybe we could talk." "No, I don't think that would be possible, really." "I don't think that would be possible at all." "I'm sorry." "I just, uh" "No, I'm sorry." "I gotta go." " Who was that?" " What?" "Who was that on the phone just now?" "Dance lessons." "Dance lessons that was?" "Yeah." "Do we want free dance lessons?" "Right." "They give you one free lesson, then hook you for $50,000 worth." "Viking loved my book." "They loved the first four chapters... which is all I gave them, but they said it was amusing and" "Yale read them, and he thought they showed a great deal of promise." "But Yale's family, so of course he's always enormously encouraging." "But Viking, they're the ones who gotta shell out the money." "Maybe it'll inspire Yale to finish his O'Neill biography." "He's been talking about it long enough." "I know, for ages." "Mary read the stuff, and she was just laughing out loud." "I respect her judgement." "She's doing a think piece on a rock star which is" " Hello." " Hey, where were you?" "You were supposed to be home an hour ago." " I bought the car." " Oh, no." "You did?" "I know, it's a meaningless extravagance, but I had to have it." " It was too beautiful." " That thing that we saw?" "Did you hear about Ike?" "Viking loved the first four chapters of his book." " Great." " They were real complimentary." "Next week, I get the car, we'll take it out and celebrate." " Okay." " In our new car." "Jesus." "Listen to this." "" Making love to this deeper, more masterful female... made me realize what an empty experience... what a bizarre charade sex with my husband was"." "Please, that is so nauseating." "Is this true?" "Did you make love with Jill and another woman?" "She put that in there?" "Christ." "She wanted to, you know." "I didn't wanna be a bad sport." " Did you have a good time?" " No, I didn't have a good time." "Did you hear the one where he tried to run her lover over?" " Whose side are you on?" " That's been going on for years." "I didn't try to run her over." "It was raining." "The car lurched." "Now everybody in town is gonna know all this-- these details." "Everybody-- all my friends and" "Listen to this." "" He was given to fits of rage..." "Jewish liberal paranoia, male chauvinism... self-righteous misanthropy and nihilistic moods of despair." "He had complaints about life, but never any solutions." "He longed to be an artist, but balked at the necessary sacrifices." "In his most private moments, he spoke of his fear of death... which he elevated to tragic heights when, in fact, it was mere narcissism"." " I came here to strangle you." " Nothing I wrote was untrue." "What do you mean?" "That book makes me out to be like Lee Harvey Oswald!" "It's an honest account of our marriage." "That I'm narcissistic?" "Don't you think you're a little self-obsessed?" "And misanthropic?" "And self-righteous?" " I wrote some nice things about you." " Like what?" "Like you cry when you see Gone With the Wind." "What are you laughing about?" "You're supposed to be the mature one." " You let her write that garbage?" " Wait a minute." "This is between you two." "Do you honestly think I tried to run you over?" "You just happened to hit the gas as I walked in front of the car?" " Did I do it on purpose?" " Well, what would Freud say?" "Freud would say I really wanted to run her over." " That's why he was a genius." " Listen, I'm going upstairs." "I got work to do." "Don't forget Willie's at ballet class." "Look, I better warn you." "I've had some interest in this book for a movie sale." " Anybody home?" " Uh-huh." "Yeah?" "I got an unbelievable story to tell you." "Absolutely incredible." "You okay?" "Just let me get one glass of brown water... and I'll be fine, 'cause I'm dying of thirst." "I wanna talk to you first." "I go over toJill's this morning, right... because I'm real annoyed over all that junk she printed in the book." "And I'm, you know" "Before you get wound up, there's something I wanna tell you." "What's the matter?" "You look pale." "Well, what's the matter?" "What" " Is there something wrong?" "What is it?" "I think I'm still in love with Yale." "What?" "Are you kidd" " You are?" " Yes." "Well, when did this happen?" "I mean, what" "You are or you think you are?" "I started seeing him again." "When?" "Since when?" "Just since today." "We're not really" "That's why I wanted to be open about it." "Jesus, I'm" "I'm shocked." "I'm-I'm shocked." "I'm surprised." "I think I've always been in love with him." "How does he feel about this?" "Well... he wants to move out of his place so that we can live together." "I'm stunned." "I'm-I'm" "I'm in a state of" " Somebody should throw a blanket over me." "Well, you see, he called me several times... in a very depressed and confused state, and he still loves me." "This is shaping up like a Noel Coward play." "Somebody should go out and make some martinis." "I don't blame you for being furious with me." "I'm too stunned to be furious." "Then I wish you would." "I wish you'd get angry... so that we could have it out, get it out in the open." "I don't get angry, okay?" "I have a tendency to internalize." "I can't express anger." "That's one of the problems I have." " I grow a tumor instead." " I told you that I was... trouble from the beginning, from when we first started dating." "What does your analyst say?" "Did you speak to him?" "Donny's in a coma." "He had a very bad acid experience." "Oh, that's great." "I think you're making a big mistake here." "Why?" "Because you" " Why?" "Because you're preferring Yale to me." "I know that sounds egotistical, but" "This guy's been married for 1 2 years to Emily." "What do you think's gonna happen?" "He'll be away from her for a month." "He'll go crazy." "And if he does commit to you... when you start to feel secure, you'll drop him." "I give the whole thing four weeks." "That's it." "I can't plan that far in advance." "You can't plan four weeks in advance?" "What kind of foresight is that?" "Jesus." "I knew you were crazy when we started going out." "You always think you're gonna be the one that makes 'em act different, but" "I'm sorry." "I really am." "I'm really sorry." " Where are you going?" " I gotta get some air." " I wanna talk to you." " What are you doing here?" "I spoke to Mary." "Weren't you gonna say anything?" "I was gonna say something, but not" "Where can we go and talk?" "Where can we speak?" " How'd you get past security?" " I walked right past." "What are you telling me?" "You're gonna leave Emily... and run away with the winner... of the Zelda Fitzgerald Emotional Maturity Award?" "Look, I love her." "I've always loved her." " What kind of crazy friend are you?" " I'm a good friend." "I introduced the two of you." "Remember?" "What was the point?" "I don't understand." " I thought you liked her." " I do!" "Now we both like her!" "Well, I liked her first!" ""I liked her first." What are you, six years old?" "Jesus." "I thought it was over." "Would I have encouraged you... to take her out if I still liked her?" "You liked her." "Now you don't like her." "Then you did like her." "It's still early." "You can change your mind one more time before dinner." "Don't get sarcastic about this." "You think I like this?" "How long were you gonna see her without saying anything to me?" "Don't turn this into one of your big moral issues." "All you had to do was call me and talk to me." "I'm very understanding." "I'd said " No," but you'd have felt honest." "I wanted to tell you about it." "I knew it was gonna upset you." "We had a few innocent meetings." "A few?" "She said one!" "You guys should get your story straight." "Don't you rehearse?" "We met twice for coffee." "Hey, come off it." "She doesn't drink coffee." "What'd you do, meet for Sanka?" "That's not too romantic." "It's a little on the geriatric side." "I'm not a saint." "But you're too easy on yourself." "Don't you see that?" "That's your whole problem." "You rationalize everything." "You're not honest with yourself." "You talk about you wanna write a book." "In the end you'd rather buy the Porsche." "You cheat a little bit on Emily and play around the truth a little with me... and the next thing you know you're in front of a Senate committee... and you're naming names, informing on your friends!" "You are so self-righteous." "We're just people!" "We're just human beings!" "You think you're God!" "I gotta model myself after someone." "You just can't live the way you do." "It's all so perfect." "What are future generations gonna say about us?" "Someday, we're gonna be like him." "He was probably one of the beautiful people." "He was probably dancing and playing tennis and everything." "And this is what happens to us." "It's very important to have some kind of personal integrity." "I'll be hanging in a classroom one day... and I wanna make sure when I thin out that I'm well thought of." "Where are you going?" "No, I knew Yale had affairs." "But then, nothing's perfect." "Marriage is a-- requires some minor compromises, I guess." "You know, it's funny, because I can't" "I'm just a non-compromiser." "I can't see that." "I think it's always a big mistake to look the other way... 'cause you always wind up paying for it in the end anyhow." "But then, you saw whatJill wrote about me in that book." "I'm living in the past." "How about you?" "You seeing anybody?" "You know, I never had any problem meeting women." "But I was thinking about this just about a week ago." "I think, and I know this sounds strange... but I think I really missed a good bet when I let Tracy go." " Do you remember Tracy?" " Yeah, I always liked her." "Yeah, I was just thinking about this at home last week... and I think of all the women I've known over the last years... when I actually am honest with myself..." "I think I had the most relaxed times... and the most, you know-- the nicest times with her." "She was really a terrific kid, but young, right?" " So, that's that." " Why don't you call her?" "I would never do that." "I think I blew that one." "I really kept her at a distance and would never give her a chance." "She was so sweet." "She called me" "She left a message with my service about a month ago... that I should watch Grand Illusion on television." "And I never returned her call or anything... 'cause I didn't wanna lead her on or anything." "She really cared about me, and I" "I was a little pissed off at you." "Me?" "I figured if you hadn't introduced Mary to Yale... this might never have happened." "An idea for a short story... about, um, people in Manhattan... who are constantly creating... these real unnecessary neurotic problems for themselves... 'cause it keeps them from dealing with... more unsolvable... terrifying problems about the universe." "Well, it has to be optimistic." "All right, why is life worth living?" "That's a very good question." "Well, there are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile." "Like what?" "For me..." "I would say, what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing... and Willie Mays... and the second movement of theJupiter Symphony... and, uh, Louie Armstrong... recording of" Potatohead Blues"..." "Swedish movies, naturally..." "Sentimental Education by Flaubert..." "Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra... those incredible... apples and pears by Cezanne... the crabs at Sam Wo's..." "Tracy's face." "What are you doing here?" "Well, I ran." "I tried to call you on the phone, but it was busy." "I knew that was two hours worth of" "Then I couldn't get a taxi cab, so I ran." "Where are you going?" " London." " You're going to London now?" "What do you-- What do you mean?" "If I got over here two minutes later, you'd be going to London?" "Well, let me get right to the point then." "I don't think you ought to go." "I think I made a big mistake." "I would prefer it if you didn't go." "I mean it." "I know it looks real bad now, but" "Are you seeing anybody?" "Are you going with anybody?" "Well, do you still love me or has that worn off or what?" "Jesus, you pop up." "You don't call me, and then you suddenly appear." "I mean, what happened to that women you met?" "Well, I'm telling you, it's" "I don't see her anymore." "I made a mistake." "What do you want me to say?" "I don't think you ought to go to London." "Well, I have to go." "I mean, all the plans have been made, the arrangements." "My parents are there now looking for a place for me to live." "Do you still love me or what?" "Do you love me?" "Well, yeah." "That's what I-- Yeah, of course." "That's what this is all about." "Guess what?" "I turned 1 8 the other day." "I'm legal, but I'm still a kid." "You're not such a kid." "1 8 years old." "They can draft you." "In some countries, you'd be" " You look good." " You really hurt me." "It was not on purpose." "It was just the way I was looking at things then." "Well, I'll be back in six months." "Six months?" "Are you kidding?" "Six months you're gonna go for?" "We've gone this long." "What's six months if we still love each other?" "Hey, don't be so mature, okay?" "Six months is a long time." "Six months." "You're gonna be working in the theater there." "You'll be with actors and directors." "You'll go to rehearsal and hang out with those people." "You have lunch a lot." "Before you know it, attachments form, and" "I mean, you don't want to get into that kind of" "You'll change." "You'll be" "In six months, you'll be a completely different person." "Don't you want me to have that experience?" "A while ago, you made such a convincing case." "Well, yeah, of course I do, but you" "I just don't want that thing about you that I like to change." "I've gotta make a plane." "Come on." "You-- Come on." "You don't have to go." "Why couldn't you have brought this up last week?" "Six months isn't so long." "Not everybody gets corrupted." "You have to have a little faith in people."