HI Gos) uae ROlee ster Ot ees Seat TRS TEN TN LSS Co) geome and to make my own par cera ts tas VIOLETTE SDITIONS Brel Face [Cel @ G18 20 CeCe) LZ IOLA coeFst polished i English in 1999—and ia cis forme 1 2007—by Violet Editions an mprin of Viole Lint 1 Petham Road, London W14 SSR, Engi writen comn (ince Fost, Act Dist, and Melanie Maes esigner) Priged a Round i ay Allsighe reserved {© Violewe Limit, 1999 and 2007 (© Sophie Call, 1999 and 207, fo text and photography Soni C (© Paul Auscer, 19 aad 2007, foe text by Paul Aster Sophie Calle ts herby ides mahi of tht wok in accondance with Setion 77 of che Copyreht Desig od Patents Act 1988, The author extends spacial thanks to Paul Auster fr permission to minal icon “histo ld sabe tothe codon sac isha wt, hyve of ade a,b et, eld ied nt, echelon the nish’ rir consent i any foe of dingo cover her tha that “nuhich pulsed ad wth snr condi nelding this condition bing hp onthe sbeguon pach sacs fom Pal Asters novel, Leviathan, ae reprinted by kind permission of Viking Penguin, a dvsion of Pega Baokes USA Toe, "New Yor, ond Faber & Faber Limite, London, ‘Sut tcme it salted fm the French by Daty Bara ad DDusny Hate and fe puihed in Eni i 988 by Bay Pes, Seale ‘Addin tansltn by Charles Peswarden, Pais Diselbute ia the USA ond Canada by Distabued Art Publishes I. ‘Neve York nd elsewhere in che wold by Thases and Hutson Led, London Poses 1-296 are printed on recycled popes, made with 50-75% post-consumer waste The remaining percentage is cetitied virgin Mbee (SC and/or other seanderd) A.CAP record Fr thie Book ie wable from che Beis Library ISBN 978-1.900-82828.6 r4eswo7ss1Fat pled in the USA in 2998 by Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA ‘it publahed in Great Bea in 092 ‘by Faber an Faber Lined [5 Queen Sguse London WEIN 34 ‘Open markt paperback edton fst publited in 2095 "This paperback edition Fst pled io 2993 Printed a gland by Clays Lid Ste ple All ight eserved, (© Paul Auster 2992 Pal Auster is hereby iste as autor ths werk in accordance with Section 77 ofthe Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 2988, “Te author exiends special to Sophie Cle for permis to mingle fact “Thi oki sl ject J the coon shal ck yay of rade er othe, be ok al, id eu rete cicled without the © pl’ pir eet in any for of indigo coer thar than tat in which publ ed ihn slr conto inching his oon eng ipso Hh subequd prchaser ACIP record fortis book is -valable fom the Belch Library sm o-s7tx6945-7 246807534 THE RULES OF THE GAME In his 1992 novel Leviathan, Paul Auster thanks me for having authorized him to mingle fact with fiction. And indeed, on pages 60 to 67 of his book, he uses anumber of episodes from my life to create a fictive character named Maria, who then leaves me to live out her own story. Intrigued by this double, I decided to turn Paul Auster’s novel into a game and to make my own particular mixture of reality and fiction.Thelifeof Mara andhovit Infuenced heli Sophie TnLevathan, Maia pus bbecself through these sitals se Tid. Burau Auster ar finped some rules of hs own, Inventing into his portitof Marian onder to bring Maria sand myself loser together, 1 decided to goby the beok. “Thenuthorimposeson his sreature a chromic resimen ‘which consists ia resect hotel to foods of asirgle color forany given day followed his inatrctions Heat herbase whole dryron sage leer of thealpbabe. dd asshedoes II ‘ThellfeofSophieand how it Influenced he ifeof Mavia “Theritelathar Auer "ortomed” frm reo shape Marla ate: The Warkote, The Sorte, ToFllow. ‘Sule dninte, The Deacve, ‘TheHo, The Adare Book, ad The Bishdey Corenor, Leviathan gives me the lepportunity to present these seit projects that aspeed {heauthorand which Maria snd now share. Oneef he mano wcotof mining fac with ation, orhowtatyto Become achoracterout of Sine Leviathan, Auster has taken measaeubject,Fimagined ssvappingrolesand king ies astheauthor of my actions Take himto invent tive chanscter which would attempe toreserble. [was in efet inviting Paul Auster todo what hewanted with fora period ofuptos yearat most. Auster ‘objected thc hed not wane to take esponsibility for what right happen when lated out thescrgte had rete fo re Instead he refereed to send me" Personal lnsteuctions for SC en Howto lprove Life in New York Cry Because sheaskel.)" followed his Alreetives This eo Gahan andook entedSophie Calle Double Game ith the participation of Paul Auster Violette EditionsContents 001 The Rules of the Game 008 Leviathan. I 012 The Chromatic Diet 022 Days Under the Sign of B, C, &W Wh 034 The Wardrobe 044 The Striptease 068 To Follow... 076 Suite vénitienne 122 The Detective 140 The Hotel 186 The Address Book 196 The Birthday Ceremony Ill 233 Gotham HandbookLEVIATHAN PAUL AUSTER Leviathan fi faber and faber LONDON - BOSTONcontacts), but as time went on I understood that she was merely eccentric, an unorthodox person who lived her life according to an elaborate set of bizarre, private rituals. Every experience was systematized for her, a self-contained adventure that generated its own risks and limitations, and each one of her projects fell into « different category, separate from all the others. In my case, 1 belonged to the category of sex. She appointed me as her bed partner on that first night, and that was the function Le6ntinued to serve until the end. In the universe of Maria's @mpulsions,1 ‘was just one ritual among many, but I was opi of the role she had picked for me, and I never found any to complain, Maria was an artist, but the work had nothing to do with creating objects commonly dgfined as art. Some people called her a photographer, "red to her as a conceptual- ist, stil others considgred her a writer, but none of these tions was accurate, Med gg the end I don’t think she can be Soros ler work was too nutty for that, too 00, idiosyncratic, inal to be thought of as belonging to any particular m discipline, Ideas would take hold of her, ‘she would }ygA\ on projects, there would be concrete results that could be sholyn'in galleries, but this activity didn’t stem from a desire to make art so much as from a need to indulge her obsessions, tolive her life precisely as she wanted toliveit. Living always came first, and a number of her most time-consuming Projects were done strictly for herself and never shown to anyone. . Since the age of{ she had saved all the birthday presents that had ever been given to her still wrapped, neatly arranged on shelves according to the year. As an adult, she held an annual birthday dinner in her own honor, always inviting the same number of guests as her age. Some weeks. she would indulge in what she called ‘the chromatic diet,’ restricting herself to foods of a single color on any given day. Monday orange: carrots, cantaloupe, boiled shrimp. Tuesday red: tomatoes, per- simmons, steak tartare, Wednesday white: flounder, potatoes, cottage cheese. Thursday green: cucumbers, broccoli, spinach — 60 and soon, all the way through the last meal on Sunday. At other times, she would make similar divisions based on the letters of the alphabet. Whole days would be spent under the spell of b,c, or w, and then, just as suddenly as she had started it, she would abandon the game and go on to something else, These were no more than whims, I suppose, tiny experiments with the idea of classification and habit, but similar games were just as likely to go ‘on for many years. There was the long-term project of dressing MeL. for example, a stranger she had once met ata party. Maria found him to be one of the handsomest men she had ever seen,@x@ssvt-, but his clothes were a disgrace, she thought, and so without announcing her intentions to anyone, she took it upon herself to improve his wardrobe. Every year at Christmas she would send ‘him an anonymous gift a tie, a sweater, an elegant shirt - and because Mr L. moved in roughly the same social circles that she did, she would run into him every now and again, noting with pleasure the flramatig changes in his sartorial appearance. For the fact was that Mr jwore the clothes that Maria sent him, 4 She- would even go.uptohimatthese gatherings.andcompliment he-never_caught on that she was the-one-responsible-for-those Cheistmas-packages. aniy She had grown up int > the only child of parents who divorced when she wasjsix| After graduating from high school in 1970, she had gone down to New-York-wittrthe idea-ofattendingar : interest after one term and dropped out. She hese seranand Dodesascane aah ol oa plod pits RARE, 5 continent, staying in finding temporary work along the way whenever possible ~ waitressing, jobs, migrant farm jobs, factory-jobs, earning just enough to keep: her going from one place to the next. It was the first of hermed, compulsive projects, and in some sense it stands as the most excassive extraordinary thing she ever did: a totally meaningless and o¢='* = arbitrary aét to which she devoted almost\¢yolyears of her life inter} but she lost, 6beyond that she was free to do whatever she wanted. Boggedly: and dispassionately; never questioning the absurdity of her task, Maria-stuck it out-te-the-end: She was just nineteen when she started, a young girl entirely on her own, and yet she managed to fend for herself and avoid major catastrophes, living the sort of adventure that boys her age only dream of. At one point in her travels, a co-worker gave her an old thirty-five millimeter camera, and without any prior training or experience, she began taking photographs. When she saw her father in\Chicagoja ;w months after that, she told him that she had finally found something she liked doing. She showed him some of her photographs, and on the strength of those early attempts, he offered to make a bargain with her. If she went on taking photographs, he said, he would cover her expenses until she was in a position to support herself. It didn’t matter how long it took, but she wasn’t allowed to quit. That was the story she told me in any case, and I never had grounds to disbelieve it. ,All-during-the-years-of-our-affaiz, a deposit oforle thousartd dollard showed up in Maria's accounton the first of every month, wired directly froma-bankin Chicago. She returned to,New. Vark, sold her-van, and moved into the nee ee |. The first months were lonely and disorienting for her. She had no friends, no life to speak of, and the city seemed menacing and unfamiliar, as if she had never been there before. Without any conscious motives, she began following strangers around the streets, choosing someone at random when she left her house in the morning and allowing, that choice to determine where she went for the rest of the day. It ‘became a method of acquiring new thoughts, of filling up the emptiness that seemed to have engulfed her. Eventually, she began going out with her camera and taking pictures of the people she followed. When she returned home in the evening, she would sit down and write about where she had been and what she had done, using the strangers’ itineraries to speculate about their lives and, in some cases, to compose brief, imaginary biographies. That was more or less how Maria stumbled into her 6 ‘career as an artist. Other works followed, all of them driven by the same spirit of investigation, the same passion for taking risks. Her subject was the eye, the drama of watching and being ‘watched, and her pieces exhibited the same qualities one found in Maria herself: meticulous attention to detail, a reliance on arbitrary structures patience bordering on the unendurable. In cone work, hie\hire a private detective to follow her around the city. For ‘dayf, this man took pictures of her as she went about her rounds, recording her movements in a small notebook, ‘omitting nothing from the account, not even the most banal and transitory events: crossing the street, buying a newspaper, stop- ping for acup of coffee. It was a completely artificial exercise, and vyet Maria found it thrilling that anyone should take such an active interest in her. Microscopic actions became fraught with new meaning, the driest routines were charged with uncommon ‘emotion, After several hours, she grew so attached to the detec- tive that she almost forgot she was paying him. When he handed in his report at the end of the week and she studied the photo- graphs of herself and read the exhaustive chronologies of her movements, she felt as ifshe had becomea stranger, asif she had been turned into an imaginary being. Forher next projet, Maria took a temporary job as a chamber- maid ina largepinidiown hotel. The point was to gather infor- mation about the guests, but not in any intrusive or compromis- ing way. She intentionally avoided them in fact, restricting herself to what could be learned fromthe objects scattered about their rooms. Again she took photographs; again she invented life stories for them based on the evidence that was available to her. It was an archeology of the present, so to speak, an attempt to reconstitute the essence of something from only the barest fragments: a ticket stub, at ;a,blgod stain on the collar ofa shirt. Some tinea : .pMeria onthe street. hint, That same evening, by pure coincidence, she ran into him at a gallery opening in(ScHiq, They talked.onceagain, and this-time she learned from the man that he was leaving|thé-nextmorning| %ona trip toNow-Grleans with his girlfriend, Maria would go there and if she wanted to fill in for her, he’d introduce her to the boss as well, she decicied, and follow him around with her camera for and see if something couldn't be worked out. Scarcely pausing to the entire length of his visit. She had absolutely no interest in think about it, Maria accepted. That was how her next workcam@s him, and the last thing she was looking for was an amorous into being, a piece that eventually came to be known as The Naked adventure. Her intention was to keep herself hidden, to resist all ‘Tadj), Maria asked a friend to come along(thaf night and take contact with him, to explore his outward behavior and make no pictures of her as she performed ~ not to show anyone, but for cffor{ to interpret what she saw. The next}morning, she caughta herself, in order to satisfy her own curiosity about what she | Sight from LaGuardia fo New-Orleans} checked intoa hotel, and looked like. She was consciously turning herself into an object, a ‘bought herself ajblack wig. For three days she made inquiries at nameless figure of desire, and it was crucial to her that she y_ dozens of hotels, trying to track down the man’s whereabouts, understand precisely what that object was. She only did it that She discovered him at last, and for the rest of the week she concé, working in twenty-minute shifts from eight o'clock in the walked behind him like a shadow, taking hundreds of photo- evening until two in the morning, but she didn’t hold back, and graphs, documenting every place he went to. She kepta written the whole time she was on stage, perched behind the bar with diary as well, and when the time came for him to go back to New colored strobe lights bouncing off her bare skin, she danced her ‘Yori, she returned on an eatlierjdight in order to be waiting at heart out. Dressed in a rhinestgne,Gstring and a pair of two-inch the airpott Tor a last sequence of pictures as he stepped off the heels, she shook her body tolloud-rock and-rolf and watched the plang; It was a complex and disturbing experience for her, and it men stare at her. She wiggled her ass at them, she ran her tongue left her feeling that she had abandoned her life for a kind of over her lips, she winked seductively as they slipped her dollar ,. nothingness, as though she had been taking pictures of things bills and urged her on. As with ling else she tried, Maria top — that weren't there. The camera was no longer an instrument that ‘was good atit. Once she got herself goin; recorded presences, it was a way of making the world disappear, stopping her, a technique for encountering the invisible. Desperate to undo the ‘As far ag J ow, she went too far only once. That was in the process she had set in motion, Maria launched into a new project, spring of 19764 and-the-ultimate-effeets-of-her-miscaleulation just days after returning to New-York, Walking through (times proved-to-be catastrophic.At least wo lives were lost, and-even Squarg with her camera one afternogn, she got into a conver- though it took: years for thet tohappenthe-connection between sation with the doorman of a popless go-go bar, The weather was \_the-past-and-the-present is-ineseapable—Maria-was-the-link- warm, and Maria was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, an un- ‘~*~ between-Sachs-and_Lillian Stern;-and-if-not-for-Maria‘s-habit-of- usually skimpy outfit for her. But she had gone out that day in ea tin order to be noticed. She wanted to affirm the reality of her body, 3 tomake heads tur, to prove to herself that she still existed in the (aero ‘of others. Maria was well put together, with long legs and attractive breasts, and the whistles and lewd remarks she received that day helped to revive her spirits. The doorman told directly baek-to- Maria, Long before any of us knew her, she went her that she was a pretty girl just as pretty as the girls inside, and out one morning to buy film for her camera, saw a little black as their conversation continued, she suddenly found herself address book lying on the ground, and picked it up. That was the being offered a job. One of the dancers had called in sick, he said, event that started the whole miserable story. Maria-opened the 64 65mayhem;anddeath. It was one of those standard little address books manufactured by-the Schaeffer Eator-Company, about six inches tall and four inches across, with a flexible imitation leather cover, spiral binding, and thumb tabs for each letter ofthe alphabet. It was a well-worn object, filled with over ttwo| hundred names, addresses, and telephone numbers. The fact that many of the entries had been crossed out and rewritten, that a variety of writing instruments had been used on almost every page (blue ballpoints, black felt tips, green pencils) suggested that it had belonged to the owner fora long time. Maria’s first thought was to return it,{butlas js often the case with personal property, the ‘owner had heglected'to-write|his name in the book, She earthed invall-he logical places — the inside front cover; the first page the back ~ but no-name-was-to-be found=Not knowing what t6 do withitafterthat;shedropped thebook into her bayanid cartied’t home, Pst she platecepied. it first « Most people would have forgotten about it, wasn’t one to shy away from unexpected opportuni the promptings of chance. By the time she went tobed that night, she had already come up with a plan for her next project. It would bean elaborate piece, much more difficult and complicated than anything she had attempted before, but the sheer scape, of it threw her into a state of intense excitement. She Iwas -aliiiost certain) that the owner of the address book was a man. The handwriting had a masculine look to it; there were more listings formen than for women; the book was in ragged condition, asifit had been treated roughly. In one of those sudden, ridiculous flashes that everyone is prey to, she imagined that she was destined to fallin love with the owner of the book. Itlasted only a second or two, but in that time she saw him as the man of her ‘dreams: beautiful, intelligent, warm; a better man than she had ‘ever loved before. The vision dispersed, but by then it was already too late. The book had been transformed into a magical ‘object for her, a storehouse of obscure passions and unarticulated 6 desires. Chance had led her to it, but now that it was hers, she saw it as an instrument of fate. She studied the entries that first evening and found no names that were familiar to her. That was the perfect starting point, she felt. She would set ont in the dark, knowing absolutely nothing, and one by one she would talk to all the people listed in the book. By finding out who they were, she would begin to learn some- thing about the man who had lost it. It would be a portrait in absentia, an outline drawn around an empty $p@e/and little by little a figure would emerge from the id, pieced together from everything he was not. ped that she would eventually track him down that way{ébut even if she didn’t, the effort would be its own ‘wanted to encourage people to open up to her when them, to tell her stories about enchantment and sed ove, to confide their deepest secrets in her. She lly expected to work on these interviews for months, perl@p@even for years. There would be thousands of photographs to}jake, hundreds of statements to transcribe, an entire universe (o}xplore, Or so she thought. Asithappened, the Project was after just one day. With only one exception, every person in the book was listed ‘under his or her last name. In among the Ls, however, there was ‘an entry for someone named Lilli, Maria assumed it was a ‘woman's first name. If that were so, then this unique departure from the directory style could have been significant, a sign of some special intimacy. What if Lilli was the girlfriend of the man ‘who had lost the address book? Or his sister, or even his mother? Rather than go through the names in alphabetical order as she had originally planned, Maria decided to jump ahead to L and pay a call on the mysterious Lilli first. If her hunch was correct, she might suddenly find herself in a position to learn who the man was. She couldn't approach Lilli directly. Too much hinged on the meeting, and she was afraid of destroying her chances by blun- dering into it unprepared. She had to get a sense of who this ‘woman was before she talked to her, to see what she looked like, &| The life of Maria and houlj: influenced the life of Sophie. In Leviathan, Marigsuts herself through the same rituals as] did. But P| Auster has slipped some rules of his own inventing}nto his portrait of Maria. In order to bring Mariaand myself closer together, I decided to go by the book] The author imposes on his creature a chromatic regimen which consists in restricting herself tofoods}of a single color for any given day. I followed his in§ ructions. He has her base whole days.on a singldletter of the alphabet. I did as she does.| — =z THE CHROMATIC DIET To be like Maria, during the week of Decemb@ g co 14, 1997, late Orange on Monday, Red on Tuesday, White on Wednesday, and Green in Thursday. Since Paul Auster had given his character the other days off, Imade Friday Yell, and Saturday Pink. As for Sunday, I decided to devote it to the full spectrum of colors, Settp e out for six guests the six menus tested over the week.MONDAY : ORANGE TUESDAY : RED Menu impored Menuimposed: Paneof ears Tomatoes olled prow Seah trae CCanalouge melon Pomepanates Prul Auster forget mention Teompleted the mena with eink, allowed myself tocomplete i Tismens with: Roster Lalande de Pome, domaine de Viaud 190 Orange ice 014 DOUBLE GAME! ‘THE CHROMATIC DIET otsWEDNESDAY : WHITE THURSDAY : GREEN, ‘Menu impored: ‘Mens imposed: rounder Crcunber Potts Braco Fromageblane Spinach [changed thismenc, because Twas not satisfied Teompeted the mens with: ithe yellow color ofthe potatoes, and added: Greenbasi paca Rice Grapesand kei frit Male 2 Minccodia 016 DOURLE GAME P ‘THE CHROMATIC DIET a17018 DousLE GAME: FRIDAY : YELLOW, Since no color was prestibed for Pridy chose yellow. Mens: Afghonomelaxe Pato slad "Young G's Drea” Banana, mango ee cream) Pht fizleon ink SATURDAY : PINK Since no color wa prezribed ‘for Satur. chose pink. Mens Har Toramaslate Sauber icecream Rosé wie fom Provence_ DAYS UNDER THE SIGN OF B, C, & W } To be like Maria, | spentthe day of Tuesday, March 10, 1998, under the sign of B for Big-Time Blonde Bimbo; Tuesday, February 16, 1998, undj-r the sign of C for Calle @ Calle in the Cemetery; Thursday, Match 19, 1998, under the sign of Clfor Confession; and Saturday, March 14, 1998, under the sisn of W for Weekend in WalloniaB for Big-Time Blonde Binbo “Tobe ike Mari, Eepertthe day of Tuesday March 0, 1998, tad ehesign of Bby wing ‘nthe appearance of aBig Time ‘Bloade Bimbo (Fr themnodel ofthis phocouraph seePanis ‘Mach November 2,189, andtheportaitof BB, who tneecent years has taken her prferencefor the eau of ‘mals over tat of humans tothe poincof calcite) B.. Beauty and the Bestiary, for Bs , Bantam, Bull, for Bug, Badger, Bray, Bellow, Bleat, Bark, for Beastly Birdbrain, for BB.‘CforCalle @ Callin be Cemetery Sic years go nom my fther end Thecame the omer of grave in Montparmaste Cemstery Tremember ov longittoak to -choowe between atom stated inthe froatrow of the nainaley lewava litle more outa the ven yet nottooitolatel ao we trould be dsrurbed lessand, thoveall, because it was next tothecemeterymillani here vwasabench orany vistors we smighthave Thebenchhss since Aiappesced bot Thave ot nto the habit of visting my ow tomb onces year togetthe feel ofthe plac. So, tobe like Maia, Tapent thedayof Toes, February 16, 1998, under the Signof CforCalleand Calle the Cemetery.fr Confexion ‘Tobe like Maria, Ideclded to spend theday of Thursday, March 9, 1998, under che algnof Cand chore Cfor Confession. ordially Conciliating Contraties, the ‘eremony of C Carried me to a Confessional — Careless Conduct to neerning the Creed. Curate, I Confided, the Catholic Confession Calle Could not Convert. Conserving Candour, alle's Conceiving that Confidence between Creature and Creator Contained no ontract Consigning tification, the Clergyman neither Consented nor Conceded, his Credo and Conscience Condemning all Caper Casting out of Court Caricature et Cetera jome what may, Counselled by Christian Charity, Contriving to Circumven: Contrary Circumstances, he Commended this Compromise, Convenient and Crafty Contrivance: Cutting out Clerical Cooper ation, Calle to Call Candidly for C Compassion, Consequently, Circumspect and Covert, 1 Confided Certain Characteristic Crimes: Calamity Calle’s Capacity for lestial Capricious, Chatterbox, Cryptic, Cunning, Concupiscent, and Coquettish Conduct, Constantly Choosing to Conspite, Crack the Consensus, Cuss and Carp; Canting Cruel Character Con-demnably Crazed with Corridas. Conforming to Custom, I Crowned this Capitulatory Confab by Consecrating Ci Cocaine Cadger, a Cynical pious Candles to Christ.Il The life of Sophie and noe itinfluenced the life of Maria. The rituals that Auster “borrowed” from me to shape Maria are The Wardrobe, The Striptease, To Follow, .., Suite vénitienne | Ghe Detective, The Hotel, The Address Book, and The |Birthday Ceremony. Leviathan gives me the opp ogtunity to present these artistic projects that inspircdighe author and which Maria and I now share. |SO SPINUANOyCelt ya a at ne ret on Lire dws ety ‘wn land lnintona andeachonat epee ‘lean gry, pref a the ate ey t er ont igh andl wath ncn entree seat iy bth ro fd ong seth cutng tj oman dened sem. Some pope ‘hedherephotogyper cbr redo bara onp yma onal te eoght of bl pacar medio or ipl eus olde hl Te vou workon proc here wes be cnc en Goud be show np, et hs ity ten de so male too ch nfm a nnd to inal ber Sees ne hiepih wr ng oes wen done aly fr hell and ever shown rom ttn ceria etal rape ry mone, alge Tle ln nut aed sas dt cinghene ‘one pe Atmos, sak tare, Wedneoay wie unde pote. (etngt ce: Touny gee excmben, bosl peach = haan pag Ine afer ane om nt dropped oot Se ht hee ave ty mang aIn 1987, a black alpaca sweater. In 1988, a white sairt.In 1989, a pair of gold-plated cufflinks. | In 1990, apair of boxer shorts with a Christmas-tree pattern. ovo pouste came iNothing in 1991, and in 1992, a pair of gray trousers. ‘Some day when hes fully essed ‘Thacat att was my srootin, Iyrmes [would ike tobe intaduced Bar, {1993 when eeame to ‘shim, [iathoes, Las fr fom France "Thedistance abotched enquiry, spd my consequent fear of ‘makinga tragicmistake over his Sze overcame iy professional ‘conscintiousness The outithas ‘ermained incomplete: my man Insenocoat and goes bret.iusto MOCO nA orcaTO FOLLOW... For months in 1979 | followed Strangets on'the|.qreet — for the pleasure of following them, not because they pirticularly interested! me, |) ,Hetosraphed them without their knowledge, took note of their movements, then finally lost|.i@ht of them and forgot them,Toms 2a tous ots Detus "DENT evant dasaut & appete> Ge plan upS Ao ww et pro q 1 Se sagencte eu en un amin cove aout mpi des eek ons pays en wtb Wort Don po ee ee le Fa ale beat de Quek ailk wo ence anion, F wlesens deuwtes alle - wi Sk Bilpia ada atanteesl (Ags OF ee Comnheut 9 ne pla an Fou wr eee RTE Phe ots pxSSQUA oe ARIE ue eed, passat qu eugene meat ne ee 074 DouBLE CAMEL 10 FOLLOW. 075SUITE VENITIENNE At the end 6f January 1981, on the streets of paris, | followed a man whom! lost sight of afew minutes later in the crowd. That yery egming, quite by chance, he was introduced to me at an opening, During the course of ou,,danvertsation, he told me he we ah imminent trip to Venice. I decided to folloy, jim. planning ee apretet (ieisetbaltearee'skngt nati ‘Siehopte miner swt Fan oarTuesday, February 12, 12:52 2M Aivaatthe Venice train seation. The pensone eco render ne the Locanda Monti, neath Accademia, Teothere id tbtkeropueon no wis Prnoemade don't havea sng enough eng thar Hei B inhi 135 tat Lamgivensoom umber Sr. Lwalkthe eet raadoally In the course of our onverstion about Venice, ene Bhad alld to pensione the Sin Bernardin Ontheliee of hee rhat Tobeained noice don’ find a Bernardino That doin? ‘opie me There lea Sa Giorgia San Sefer, Tarrivewe Pisza Sen Marco and it agansta column. watch, Tee ysl atthe labyrinth’ ready to geo incl and inthis story Submissive RM. Treturneothe Locanda Montin ad dine alone atthe restaurant onthe ground far, ‘Then Igotobed SUITE VENITIENNE 063Wedresday, February 13, 11 A.M Invearaigerancostatcaef, by acolumn. Lath for his snddatkghscs Igo rothe | slhouett A yourg man Questar, che main police tecompanied by adog notices Satin. Afctaseresof corr? imeand speaks to me- Hisname ors Teaer hectic wherethe _isPinojhers is Coceolat, hotel restation formease kept. Pine Venetians dros Texplintotheclerk hate caiatursco salle tourists loatthe ne and addres of syearhesat perched or thehote wheres friendof mine ewodayson the edge of che bel lestaying Isonfese my belplese tower Pizza San Mateo ness. The clerk sayshecant Wego forall, Hewaves Telpmetsagsinatpolieyto toa dhepolcemen we mest. supply sch information tthe Hestatethat he knows the publi Headvivesmetogaco ehiete daughter intimately. heveserition deskat he rain Lellhienveloseack of & station. Why don havethe frend, Hesays he'll help me tind ‘ula be in hi. Touched by y apparent 1230rM Thetrinsttion. _shyrestand cheinaumeable Thesame fui Lumdierted blunders that eommicin ie gain tobe Qoerura Tanguage, Pino agrees ocall. 1:30, PattaSan Marco. cetrinhotes forme to seeif Litfochours sttingona—HenetB bychanceiregistered bench atPalasso Ducal hidden atone Fro mi lit choose the Thursday, February 14, noon Lunch with Anna LisnGand guest aamed Henri BP Atthe LicianaC, Venetinsammutoat Sava the Cvaleto the frend suggested leone Londr, the Daniel the San Teconfgeinthemthe purpose Marco, theanswer isa of my tip They'rewillingto Throws abot hi, exces helpane placetheietelephone thathe had tin and fe fo he stony diosa fi days tha ke now ass, 3r.llenve hes. Lputon the that he ensver where larch, wig fom nowronTwon'tgoout He isconsuring me Withourwearigit.eontinuemy Fouhovrs pas Taiveup Geach fer HenriBon thestrets) Sha. Dinner with Lt twondenf he'svih- (mint the Cxttherestasrne Le Milo loxurybotee:"Doyouhavea —Forpractice, whileaimingst my hotel names most ike Sen Bernardino There sno Henri Bat the San Giorgio orat he San Stein, The San Bartolomeo close. now nether Her Bases, of Venice onebyone, without thank Pino, We maysce ach other apn tomorrow Teobackto the Locands Matin snd dineone ‘pa, Thisevesing sy fre bightoutasa blonde A men follows me for sbout en mites bt doesn't dareto approach me Tslpehough hess A dread ietaking hold of me: He recognted tne he' flowing me ke knows TgotoHlery'sBar [drinks whiskey and at LL, Lretura frend, photograph three men ‘onm righ with the Squinee "The day He Beceetn font of mes beable tophatograph hi aswel hie ooking eb where! dob Midnihe. reach the pension Uvebeen seciinghisname since thePonte del Accademia, Tremove my wig Toa for he fs in dea ‘odloking BondFriday, February 15, 10 A.w. eave the Locanda Montin ase ‘brunetteand don my wigina day alleyway nea by Pd iter very da Iden'etantt bape bropriecrs Theyarealrcad calling inquire about Henet Binal {he hotels having first name for ssname:Da Brno the Leonard, the San Moise, the Alex at lunch ine, Took through resturant windows aleay ae hese faces ever is. Pecome hetsnarhere ta looking fr him gow ere Hen Bis Fors few moment Ieakes diferent tack snd abent-minded fll a ower delivery boy ‘ithe might ead me ohm {TRM. Taete down in front of the elephonear Anna Lisa's place The Venice hotel ist, noe including the Lido, comprises 1 names divided into sever categories defi, second, third, and fourth cases fe, second and thitd-lse Pensones; and inns wil all them alia thei espective order. “Thus dial the numbers or the hotels Bauer Grinwad, Cipriani, (Gee, Carlton Executive, Europ ce Beitana, Gabel, Lande, Luna, Metropol. Monaco e Grand Canal, Pak Hote, Regina Di Roma Vittorin, Situenine international Als, Al! Angel Aloe Palace, Astra, Bel Sito, Biaansi,Bonvecchiat, Boron, Capel, CerpacioCassnova, Crvaletea,Concordia,Continenta (Corso, DeLAlsor0, Do Por PENSIONE Plora, Gloegione La Fence, Monte- wh im 1 m afd tha the ‘encounter might commonplace Ton cwantiobedseppintd ‘Theres tuck a been his thonghtsand mine. Fm the onl oe dreaming Henn B' flings at Belo ny or ‘Ghangs up He thinks his rend was nocsuepcd by the request and he implicitly promised to cep sent. Therkindnew touches nme [thnk G. Tis mening he had ros recognied Inthe eveniag mechanically requmntothe roatofhispersione (On the second Noor window is li. preae myself momentarily soe the doorCalledetTagheto I's feesing_Teghetto,CampoSin Barnsba, ‘et patently serum my Ponte dei Puen, Riotersé comings and goings (Canal—heasks directions rom 10053. Atlas i’thim. sprserby—Camped Santa Iwaspretendingto be waiting Margherita, Pont SinPantalon, fortomeonelientche entryway Campielo delle Morce, Salida ofthoure located between SanPantlon, Rio dl Oatfara his pensione and the xl Fondamnenta de Tletini Calle Thedoor of Casade Stefani delle Chiovere, Commo Sun opened He appeared. Rocco, Calle Larga-dhey glance Heheadstoward Campo San intothewindow ofthe For Bernaba,He'swertings wool. Photo Shop —CalleTraghetto Fined dhepskin cont andhasn Campo San Tomi Calle de camertalingoverhisshovlder. Nomboli, Rioerr det Nombal, ind himehanged-Hishairis Cale del Saoner, Pets Se longer A woman isholdingon _Polo—SalradsSanflo, tohirarm,herheadcovered Campo San Polo—Fe plats byaprintahaw.Lollow them tothechurch, takes pictre fromashoreditance They take of the pias. |imitue him Monday, February 18, 8 A.M. thefollowingroue:CalledelSottoporego dell Madonnets, Calledella Madoanest, Poste ells Madonnett tosnapashotof thes ethapsof thar passing bout! ‘After several seconds litte him, eying my esto ak the ‘ame pictures —Campiello de Meloni they mem interested bya porter advertising photo copiers—Calledi Meza, (CampoSan Aponal —she eters ‘sbookatore and comes out asin fmmeditely empty-handed Roghetta del Ravano-—he bays a paper, lkingbiedy withthe vendor —Ruga Vecchia San Giovanni they stop fore few secondsin front the Bncod Roma end unfold a map which they consul; serondedor DOUBLE @ANEH j sorte veninne os—- Tuesday, February 19, 10 A.M, From the Bar Aci watch, turned toward Carp San Bernas wating without sonviction, fo him pase Intake mach f an efor, Ieivemself break Ihave seenhim, Andthe woman who scconpanie hin dab; last ht Thad ighimave:Hecomes toward mend ay, “Listen that's ul” Later inthe dream, his nthe tet incnderto there re ivetintion She oa resp and flit the Grand Canal jump into che Aigner and pal het land. aiseppeae She wonders luhotheeBonde woman wat who saved her from drowning and then fed wihouatace. 11a He'snotcoming Igiveup, 130 A.M. Leng the belt Loip's he door opens elim the steps inthe main oom on the second oor, the anigue deer greets ne aad then ewes tlmortatonce for another ‘customer While wating [look atthe objectson display. Tea mines pas Luigetarne Tntrodce myself and pretend thacone of sy frends a cersin HentiB bad recommended pay ‘im vist Lule eugesta that Teome back nent Friday about she o'dock the boutique willbe closed and we willbesbletochat seu leisure rkapsi eto down Iinbisarmcha a sasof whitey inkand. beso. Tehaok him, Iwill recur, Noon. thave a2 appoiotment cthe Café Foran wth Mi a Venetian, We have ata fiend in Pais, ‘A man sit alone atthe ba. ‘Wenod a euch other MrSi« Inhis fifties sada handaome faces hermiles Without het sion confide tai, el him aout my trip exslain the reason for our meding.Ifelalone, {need help but don't know wat form imight rake. He Trento me carefully He would lke to helome, bute doesn't knowhow etelame shout the most popeae souls spots and marke them on my map of Venice ask hen fhe knows anyone on Calle eV Teaghetro who hat window overlooking the rest. Mr knowsthatecerein DrZ lives conthaeatet, buthedocsn’t know him personally ACL EM we part Heasksme te keepin touch wth hm, 1:30 a In font ofthe archi reschool | meet with MC, twhove address sven tome byafeend in Peis He's about shireeive years old eh, and teas. He's accompanied by wo ‘ther professor. The three men take me to lunch ata restaurant, close tothe shoal. The convers- ton s sophisticated, lively. Venice ira mallet ask Ci bheknowea Dr Zwha lives on Calledel Teagheto, “Weare sod longtime ficda,"he anys expres ey wish to meet him Caiver me hiradatess and tele- phone number He promises to talk to hin about me thir ven snd totell him wll cal ACS EM. we pare company. Tall randomly through the cer etet looking foe Hens B. Thismehod bass ary ond elaine f thas rovers ‘har fficien 3:20RM. Tce im ight inthe middle of Carapo Seat Angela. Hers his back tomeand phoro-grphsagioup of children Playing Quickly do he same “Then I noice the woman, who's wali for him off tthe side Fe joins he ‘Ourjourney begins: Sen Angelo Cale del Spesen, Pontedela Cortsia—he point rowatd the canal sf toshow something to the woman take ‘ pleturein the same direction CChmpo Manin their paths separatesuddenlysheturnsto the ef eto the right—Campa San Luc, Calledelle Bane, SUITE VENITIENNE 103Hesurnshisback a mean photograph ra ayng Quek Calledei Fabbri, Cale cdl ‘Teatro della Comedie, Cam vests agabage dump SanSsivador —he hesitates frontof the Credit alan, lances toward the canal then Seliztada San Govan motionless staring fixedly rsthe _thewater He skang his camera centre post oie follow him. buck over hiss Hidden behind column, with hielbows spon the bi wall, daydcuming ‘maf bell turn sbevetly rmecrouching nthe fa front ofthe gence delivery counter An employee bad on ie mal leters Hess Olio, Calle de Test del Opera the nelghbo iedeered is paceslackens, sbovtifcen meters separ tu-Corte del Miidn—a dat snd nauseating echway that, extremely narrow: About ry mtr rom the bees Telipinto large enteyway and him topase Five very Place and po back thet inthe same plac th Hedoean' ue ‘After phocopaphing thecal i Crit Poate del Cris ondament Van Axsl—he Ponte della Coesie—he andthe canal asf show se + mesa aka He ceosses my path neo bye eta a e ad lene Headjatsthe po Teaita Tewving themaa’s erm then take phoeoranh Hethanks him Ponte Cavallo. someten Campa deiSS Gi Intheceney a son me valk: along the monument, atthe fr ide th rita’ igh wig. The publichospial, Hebeads toward Finally pial, pasting doug Iissight. Pe gttoget ahold of rm ean againzacoluns ovate, Suddesty im fom isco is he Heinigued. shoul keep myWednesday, February 20, 7 A.M. Thursday, February 21,9 A.M, Locanda Montn. The propri+ enter helocksthedoor behind window on the second for, TeingatDeZ'showse Themald —_11:30A.Magvehim one et ctresercldeme Shetellsme us Tshow himapictoreof Henri momirgronly Heasksin return jopeasthedoorforme.She'sthe chance: Teountto 100, he doesn’t ‘thewaited forenelatnight..Dehasheseen thitmanbefore” dtl ake off my wif hin nly nehomesnd wartoldtoappest [lev 10A.M Today willnotwaie —Hecan'trecall, Wechat Ten contest. Hetellsmehe prefers tukemetothesueseroom upon Noon, [wander around Pasa (ochimen Calle del Tenghetea. esitestuterTaskolerve. He measabeunetie, imyateial Sheleadsmethers San Marco. Teannaefllowhimanymore. _putsavayhirwhirkeybotesnd At T07.. eve Ibe back ‘With my Leiceequipped with During the afternoon photo Hemutbeworied,wonderng f opentthedoor forme Heamiles tomortow ot 94.6, tostaion theSquint,Tapprosch the graph allede Traghett, section Tamtkes kind hin -nowhe —sndaays"You were seared, no!” myelfarhiswindone Wythe window [am usta few meters bysection, an cach ie. A deer (hinsof meh twilbeenkis Se LeallDrZ;beagreeato chins shi window now? feomtheentrnce oCasade_ategenure But what ode? ‘vil Dire scomeathishomeonCallede 8PM. [gotothe Trattoria Stefani. Lwaitforhim,bencovee, Thiseening wil ey net togo Helikes cemeteries Iekethe Traghett a5 (Cagnal where head dinner #0 Fromimeroumel photogeaph near him. rex rez hin waporetioand gtathelslandaf Sry. IringatDrZ'shoure. dave before Isa pleat place, puree foravuile, My dayhaspased theDead, Veice’smulncemetery. He'sonthetelephoneandhes lively ther modes. The mena i If Lace him going oui nat Balderent. Am ing uP? Texandforalongtimein front mewaitafewminutesinhis _wrteninfourlanguages Servic flow kin. wantondtowstchhim Tgoto bed easy ofatualwuleonwhicha —sitingroom.Thewindowsall is provded by thre old women, one moretime inhi, phatgraph (Christas wreath sng Took out onto the sree Enlithmen sr sting on mye mbt wuld wan teas Theokdceretakerapprosches Hecomer ack Hemust be Geimanscn my rg. The food ‘im apes hin rmeHeinvitermeforadeinkin sity yearsold. ike im [tell sagreauy, but the pricetaright, 10a. young man rings at hishot setup rightinthemiddle him the whole sory. TOR return to Locanda 2ishouse, drops off an envelope ofthe tombttones Assconatwe — DrZagrecstolend mea Mootiaand goto be. then leavesb | ca nt. o\" | r i i* ce i ‘ + a) i i a a \ | a ;Saturday, February 23, 10 4.M | [have mybreaastinthedining 9:15 nd.arsves in Pais 1:05 mat Loca the next morning eth seme tna clephoned hisfriendstCasa [evita il ss path with him ae Stefan, inthe coral oo appr tnd she wl be chr, to. wry would out aconforaton. this person backandasking if Tcheckthe information boa Hen Biedepercuredatehie and eoafirm hut by making a cen detour through Bologna, Lean CGeallsrightawey He finds each Paria ve nites before ‘outthatHensiBandthe woman ini ehe aways serve me well willbe leaving forPrithat—_andstayon schedule) seey even Te Tee the 422. ei for facktomysoom snd Bologna, Ihe thereat 651 ra feu geatfuly bd tel which will arivein Paria theowner (Oa. ebarp ArTLJOA.MLamatLdansCs Luciana Cy who wants Whattodo n ence witht hin? know the end of this story and think shouldleae, but laho sce France aa, decides decpng in hired [pend my asthoursin the Atmmyrequer, Locina calle sunonmy bench ia Pass CCanade Stefani, Shesaysthitsince San Maro her fiend, Henri Bisleavngthe Eh, The tain moves out ciy.ahe would keto resee that Ubverecaimed sy black hatan ety pleasant room bead stare assumed normal appearance. swell 7p. Meala the Bo is cafeteria anda short walle inthe sngthis evening, The coor asallehe ther inthe ps ‘tlresdy ken. Theonb hig formesty’sttrets tod eve Venice ra The sin to Pasi 1230RM.Igotothe rains Talasleep Wionin thecompany of LicianaC, Tho Twill ein on Thenight tein leaves Vencest moretine 1s pousLe GAME HL ‘ | SUIVe VONLTIENHE 118Sunday, February 24, 10.4 3 ain eters the Gas the scheduled track Hand passer me eis 1006, Onthe car the panel sho the tation Track! isempty rom my platform ean wth the fis Passer rive. wat fr him sce Ran ere Ii Both of them carry cube some baggage. They walk slow with great effort tomar thee Tphotogrp hin one ae tine athe pares through the gone fh Oa. itor HensiBsTHE DETEC’ rIVE In April 1981,.at my request, my mother wen) ygmdetective agency. She hired them to follow mé, to report my daily activities, and toxprovid, fe veins Tolan emcnu te (en ecn ey mrinsareng iret eo ee ee ee Seg eepeccae: te: ee ete eee ere acc eet eres ees Subiane Ginn maecss ence ere eete arcs esa eet tee int tere epost coer Gidicendenscngatnc Oe er eee eee ee ees een CL Rai alegre oS ae et oe plained enna es ST Relea 0) Sere ngapis Ta rar or ores ho Marae tt arava att. Cte wor lle la hm en by ‘Seoanerpatinestgaon, thee pun hing se Her abet wan the ye the rama of hg nd Sng. Fraglorscopoeatee va [tected nen gay F So int mio tT pt es ghee ing wey. She intently avaded them in fa. sorting emit cod nnd roth ec sated ht {brooms Apu she ok png apia rede ‘esse bs onthe ect war eee See acta of he peels ean att ‘oie he a sty fm ay Et ‘olaretashct Soe tee ht, sman nto php ans these Shenae and eed Nan Tate evening by puter hear tsa seller opening Sols They led nega, nd sti ‘Seteame rom he mathe srg ts ingThursday, April 16, 198 Tom gening ead tog0 008 (Outside, in theatres nant wating for me. Heisa private teri Hei aldo fellow ime Ihied him to follow me, bathe does not know thi, AtT0:204.34. gout Inthe ‘mailbox, postcard feom Mont [thinkof you often, Vacation beautiful weather.» vacation, Hiand ses See you soa. Patrick." The weather acess, sunny 1s cold fam weaeag ry suede breeches, lack abt, backshoesand gray raincoet Over my shoulder abright yellow bog seamers take rue Oaseent and buy marigolds foc eight france tthe ower shop Tenter ‘Montparnasse cemetery ad lay the fowers on ere Viegrave, 19204. 1981. cootinoe through, he cemesery. Every day for yeas when was pongo shook, took tharsame route eplesed meto imagine tha there wate man bi ‘Senin faily aul and that besurvived only because of my loveand the food I srapulovsly leftonhie gravestone Atthe cemetey ext, on boulevard Edgar Quint, [buy Le Mende snd Paiope ‘AcIO40 A.M. IgettoLa CCoupol, 102 boulevard du Montparnasse, where have an appoteemenc with Nathalie M. [donot sitat ourusal be but closer to thewindowr and orders caftcrdme, At 10:5... Nathalle Mioineme Ive known he for years She always tems so fale ‘Sheis enuf. Tam supers tious so dont want to speak hefollowingme don’ know if hes relly ee, ‘ALIL3O4.\, weleave La CCoupole- Nathalie walks with metoahalrdresseron tue Dearne is fo “bie Lameettingmy hairdone ‘Toplease him ‘AvI2.05 ro, eave she bsiee dese Myr select the young woman wha hand me my taincon i reaesuring “Outside, ie wllca down," Then I walle towards Jardin de Lxembouns want to show "him the tees, the places love. Iwas “bi” te bewith meas Igo through the Luxembourg where playedas A child and where [received my fiat kissin the peg of 198, Uiep my ever lowered. [am ‘est se "hie" 123024. Lam waiting for Eugene Ba publisher beneath the tatue of Danton t }Odéon We're supose ttalk abot ‘shook would ike oget bled five minutes goby.Mycyesmeet on theother side ofthe boulevard Sui hore of aman about weny-e%0 euro, ie fet eiches all, thoct stright lightbrownbi, who mp suddenly and t- remptsa hasty and awkward seteat hind scat e's him [Astrange steps upto meand asks where Though my uincost Eugene Beomesat 2-402 Hekiesesmeand takesmeto*n ‘outdoor café nearby AUTOS Pa. wwe say goodbye I head forthe Pantheon, From phone booth, Teall ernard whom would very much ike "him to te When Twn ine Iwas certin Bernard Fst my father Goingehroush my mother’s eter found and tle ete he wrote which began: My Asding, Thape youate seriously thinking sending our Sophie te boarding schoo...". When came ovis my moth Gera, Toul ston bis lapand tae expectatiyat him, Then Bernard Fr visa became es frequent Lcoppedstingon bis, cereryonetold me how auch Hooked hike my father By the ge of tele, fonposten this ‘stake lineage My cal wakes him un Hetellemethat be tence ren tocopewith the sre 20na. Igetto-my stato, located a 36 ued Ulm in che former premives f the Couvent del'Adortion Reparatrice Ashort sop to pickup some papers At SDP. Leome out ‘ein decide ool round Pari [take ue Sour boule ‘ards SeineMichel and Sane Germain, Pn afeid ve oat thm" Since our "mesing” atthe Carrelour de "Odeon, notonce di feta prevnce Talkin the middleof the stret. Aciving in front of 3 Seine, Galeri xi abr, ery t0 pshopen theglsdoor Iedoes ‘otbudge Further down the same steus infront of number 6, ait for H Roger Vile, ocumestation Photogaphique, toopen. [walkin at 2 sndask fo the leon peivate Seretves | fipshrough che photogeaphs Allehefaceslook ‘older than i (acy enue byyhis your). buys porte of Detective Lepage As ase ny ‘yes through he window, sting ‘ob bench scroethe ret, the same young man spotted t the Carrefourdel"Odéon, Now (trusehim, I'm aot afaid of loring himanyenore ve bevomespitt of thelifeof X, prvatederetve Latrctured isda Thoreday, Apri 16,0 sich the sume wey that he bas in [ACT:IO7M. Imowe on. ezose thePont Royal and head forthe Louvre, At2.20 8 afer wale ingaviekly trove [find mya! in feoneofTila’s Mancha Glove. nave aeays ed this plating. The sad vacant eye, The pouting mouth The face if beheaded esting cn alacecollat Butabove ll, thishint of amustache ‘At S10. leave the Lowvre Inthegarden of the Tuileries, photographer ‘ny piceure with ny camera Treeept At3:20 RM. [top at the Tlie outdoor lordera ber Leake pleasure in ‘racing "hin have ie dike tthe counter [Acs ni, [leave che Tuer, sons the Place de ln Concorde AAc#30aC Lenterthe Palaie ‘dela Découverte Discovery Exhibition eee), which seemed ed mine fers totale feend props. have an appoinement with aeques M. Tse his tllhovette onthe second oor ‘We meander from room to om, Ina doorway "he" brothes pet, sas ARSHISTM. welenve the Palisde In Découvert. walk with Jacques Mroiscar {ge Ame kiss and conte ny wale lone Idecdeto theatee walk up dhe Chames Elyedesand after hesitating between Fuabinder Lili Marlen and Lasrne's Te Reaunae?, adetecive comedy, Top for the former and enter the Gaumone-Colisge 85:25. Inside, eal think of “hin Isheenjoying this eater Affase and ephemeral day have offered hien-—our day! Half an hour leer at 6a. Teavethe theate [walk tomard Chile ‘At, Lariveut Galerie Chantal Croutel, 80706 Quincarnpotc, for che Gilbert ‘& George opening Thers Incet ny father and take im outse ‘vith me want “hin” eo seemy fachor Back tthegellery chat, fgetig "bin" alice. ACSr.M frends take me by car toa pesty foe George and Gilbert in an partment at 20avenuede Wagram, At midnighe levein thesameca to Le Palace, were ‘weave been vied il honor of Gilbert Ocore Tgetto know Dan better wom [mets few months earlier (ACZA.M otal cakes us both tothe OK Barat Vivin. eat puget and drink whiskey. ‘ALS a.m. wegrbanother taxi to goto hie hte, the tel Tiquetonne Lamdrunkand fallareep Beforeclosing my jel think of “him, Iworder if eliked me, fhe wil thisREPORT ‘Thursday, April 16, 1981in the company twenty-seven, height 5/5", of very stout long brown hair, voaring light brown trousers and At 11:28 the subject says goodbye to her frierd outaide 21 rue Delambre and enters the Jacques ith thick black frames, kisses the sub talk. The subject Phones from a booth out fer making this eall, she 9 ve d'Ulm (ohureh) down rue de San and go[At 2118 the subject enters the Louvre mseum and walks to the Salle des Etata, stopping before the Notes and also a photograph. she stays in front of the painting for about half an hour. Tuileries. she strect pnotogra ‘the Louvre and ex heevel# photograpwien metal-franed apectacles; he is wearing white ‘The subject and the man hold hands and valk around At 5:10 the gubject and the man leave the Palais D-Rocsevelt where, after kissing, they part of a shite Range Rover, License nunber 363 BKX 75, At 5:25 the subject goes into the Gaunont-colisée cinena at 36 avenue des Chanps-Flysées to see the ‘At 7:25 the subject leaves the cinema and goes nto the Fram] in-Roo At 1:55 che subject gots off the train at chewanted ova souvenir ofthe person who would be following fe [didn't know which day of he week healing would ake place, so Lsked Frangois Meo beoutsdethe Palaisdels Découverte everyday 2152. snato photograph anyone ‘who seemed to betaling we 1981, stsbout 5:15 ., Sophie Callecameoutof the Pasi de eDécouvert immediately noticed that she was being followed by youss man aged shout twenty, na leather facet, witha camera round eck od abagoverhisshoulder. ewer walling bour twenty ‘meters behind her and photo Ll Mo” cs ze ll Sig ETT the Champs-Elysees "At 5:25 Sophie Calle entered the Gaumont-Colite cinema ‘The man waited for few ‘moment think was noting ‘hermes ofthe showings. Then hecontinued on his way up the arene tothe Lord Bye shee the poster had Bras and The Daughtvof Madame D. AtS.30the man wet ino the seiner and hat wasthe lst oe of hi,mpetye levis a On Monday, February 16, 1981, Twashired as, ,emporary chambermaid for three wee in a Venetian hotel. | was assigned twelve bed}, >@sen the fourth floor. In the course of my cleaning duties, | examined the personal belon, aggiat the hotel guests and observed through etails lives which remained unknown to me, + Beiday, March 6, the job came to an end a Fieeraiat arora re ecto eet perpen see pega: Paceerererernret te are pee Eeeeeyieagees ceo pa eee Sntaceracingecioaes Soe hoist pecans a eee staan ies een teiarogemiatilesny oe ect Ee creed Epeernaslctesstewonetores ieee ee een fyeetiem acceso icinomennsnonoctrcta Bes saniehamnaatinessro eee poetic massa paeeseeEreninescescct Snescesswage saree = estate ee ee ete teams hare Rok Gendencrasscce Pees eccrine as fe telteeet toe rea rerio ace ta att Oe wor lon lf hem dives by {fon patna, th se pon ering ek Hor sbjet was he ee the cane & wthng and ing Mee kewesmeadon ays la on “netwoh e eds poae eect oilowherarun he (Sy Forever hr an took pes es abe et ‘Southersunds onlin er ovement al ek eee eb lacs ntvre vapours at ecliaibund thing tl onyonesbaadatenchanscine eet i her, tose soe came ugh th ne ef et lac oe peace stn After see our he ached di [retina slow ings wat ying hin When he handed Unie rput ath end he we and shed he poe {pep bol and ti xh eget et ‘Sovct teat che brome eng a ey funed mean imaginary bei [teers oft Mats tpn bees] Iris at ond bers es cca ted oe puso rtesbondon tenner batten ohe fran acheay oh poses oak an samp Jeane te earns someting moray the es [Earns » a bs rn thy od wan [turarsteisonca bh se ede capt cn tievint Stunden datiety vac ond led ‘iy Thatsmectnng by pecans he nto pues opting in Sto Tyson she heared fo be then g so mnROOM 25. Monday Februsryl6,9 A. go nto Room?5. The only room ‘nthe Boor with ingle bd tnd the firstone enter The sight of the crumpled navy pales ‘vith he ligt be piping lft on thebed and che brown leather slippers does semethiogto me ‘Theoscupantieaman, There ae ‘few luesby de washbasias ier comb with nsing eth ‘toothbrush toothpaste, and Mennen deodorant, On the abe Time the eration Heald True, anda book, The Moon and Sizpence, by W Somerset Maugham, witha marker a page 198, Os the windowsill ouside are epplesnd oranges in wo puper bogs On the night table finda hardcover ntebo travel ogo through Rome... Tueadey lvence sand under yesterdays date, hese nes aeied in Venice this morning...uptomy room had buch, a couple of oranges + ‘pple + willerah. have tld thedesk towake meup at 830+ illo tothe marker which Rob saysisex.” Lala ind two Pati ‘eidresse: Count and Countess Mand AmbussadorO. stop ‘reading Idan’ewanto take ill coday. make the bed and leave, Wied5 A “Tuesday 17,930.44 Today Topentheclotet. ew clothes ‘Burgood-gualty ones: weeds, ‘woolen. subded colors eayravy, brown, A large whiteunderpas the botcom of the drewee Inthe comer the lose, neatly righteream for penples neds, td thread insides Uipatich ete Teeetherelanorator andl, (of clothes is traveling with By eliination, that lis med tedhy hele wearing rowers Abie Tahir, anda windbreaker, Iclanthe room and start to rad hisiry. His handwetings poor heavy etegule Treeead his remarkrabou Venice: “Sunday, February 15,1981, Weaetlved in Venice this morning. We took hee. eisrealy spectacle Nocats jot prey ite sweets ta mal bridges over the cena ‘Wesatoutede and hed dike of sriowsserange things Wevwent backto the hotel. fam ina ciny oom by myself Ran out and bought kilo of oranges and spplesuad puethemon ny ‘win-dowall We wentoutand hada very good walk. Latea good oun, noodles with tomato sce, anddrukealocof white wine ‘Wenet Piast San Mateo, had sa grappa, Madene feel nottoo food. Went hack to Hotel Tslepeabe. Roband went scrolling Stayed atabarand had a beet Came back, Rb went Gots posteaed fom he desc und ‘went to ore bat and had beer + ig wrotealong postcard (OL. Uptomy oom bad a bath, stesome oranges and apples snd ‘illeas, Have told the desk co wake meupat8:30..”-Sounds Inch allway. else the dary. ‘Ast patitdown, someone enter the oom. pce upmy res my bucket (vere my carers and tape recorder ee hidden lower ‘ny gic an eave. He sdeesed ‘heway though; heieabout ‘entyeight, witha weak face Illery forget ie Wedesdy 1, 9:40... Hebas {ished theapplesand oranges ‘Thewastebsker i fillof pee. He's sul on page 198 of Somerset ‘Mavghem'sbook. Nothing has 25, Fbruacy 16-19 hanged inthe room, Sot have look inside the bag of dctylandey Jningngon the door and empty conthebed. goback tothe dary. Nothing fr the 16h. Butfor the 17th cere are hes ines "ester: ay walked around, Weneto retturan. Hed exellent sogne Today we went nd had lunch at areys Har whichis posed 19 Dbethe best restaurant the wold ‘And itwas good. had good gets ‘oodles with excellene ence. In theafternoon, went ae Steve MeQuen a ais, Thad beer inasquare Then some guy led ‘opickme up Tehink wll have 1d dream sbout tonight. ‘Andthats Taleo nds postcard adresse o someone ‘aroed Oliver Roo addess Inittheveeupantor Room 5 slates mea Thursday 19, 2000, Heisgooe Heehaslefthis orange pelin the swucebaset, thee fees epge on the windowsill and the remains of acrolsant which Ipolsh oft Taal enn isROOM 28 Monday, Febranry 16,930 4. 1gointo Room 28. Only one Sed has heen leptin [find an impressive ile of loggase on the ightalong the wall Four ‘Vaittonsitense stacked on ropof eachother three traveling baat atom of hoes eighnpire forthe woman (ze 38) sod {ve pais forthe man a4). tight some men'sclothes ‘nclading thee new pairs of shoes in elecovers shat, to paisof white underpants and fone pir of pantawith hike braces Allof them of afine quality Limatine some older selloff people Inthe bathroom, odhing special exept pink Alanelete nightgown. [paton some of thet Chanel Na. perfome.Thexilyopen one of Ahete mienon Latch alimpee ‘of The Beonomisemagatine some bananas ina plastic bag. Once theroor i mude up Teave “Tuesday 17,9410. Thetwia bedshavetsenslepin. Inthe wastebasket the banana peels shotleof water anda pairot handy worn black Sat hess Chey ‘ie me;Ttake hen). On thecal, thick wheecottn plea box om. To theft ome ina. @ ‘rostword ona bedeide table an farm clock, Scotch espe thee pais of danse, ‘shook, Gamer with Love and Death by Arcur Schaller fa thechest upper drawer, find bo Dhandlags, some peal necklaces {na plastic bg. and ten sal “dential boxes fllof wait pills ‘wrapped ina Fxgead shoe Cover The two ower drawers ‘contin some women’s clothe, sik Blouses, pastel olor scarves, Wednesdty 18,9 4.«. Theta bedshave been slept, There is some progresson the crossword tid seated yesterey. The pie ra bottom stil these place Tif che uiteaens three of them seem eo be fl: Lopen them Inthe fee one find a toilet it, inthe encod a et of lentil Brooke Brothers shits Inthethied one, book, Ars {n Crime by Ngaio Marsh Minoxcamers,adenture Gower jaw)" 9 12" photograph of atalingboat on theses 2 reservcionatthe Milan Caton, for Febeuny 9, a portrait the Pope an envelope addcessed to Mrs, Baltimore, wth he following notations on the bic “Jean Pas Belmondo, euede JnPai, Paris Se" (he sreet, ‘number snot mentioned, te Room 28, February 16-16 arrondisemen mbes wrong, the posvofficcanclation has bean writen overin ballpoint, series of indexcarde wth columns of mmbers(etock exchange quotations). These some nae, hastily close the ‘ese and make the bed. Thursday 19, 000. They have ose. They hivelefnothingbe- hind. take lnc photograph of theuninade beds The memory Twlleep of them isthe obscene Aenage of the pajama botom, lying seopidlyon che chaie Wh) Ad aa Hy‘Room 28, Magch 3-5 Tuesday Macch 3, 9115 A enter Room 78. The twin beds srenmade. The person on the Teftelepe witha pllews fhe one on the ight, with none, rra-and black sil planar onthe chairsnd ‘ebroideredbaboucherype slippers (aise 38). These ate the ‘only vstble signs of oxcupancy slong witha itate and tveling tg, both locked. The cupboards arecmpty exept for sore ‘le underwear (two pate of underpants nd an undereie) inthetopdramer ofthe cesta few toletey ems roe, bavi ‘brush. and vane medicine in thebidea the bathroom, “Therein nothing lc ur one [clean the room ad leave, Wesesday 4,104.4 ‘The ita srt shut. The babouches and pajamas inchele respective places. Today, the occupuneof the lghchand be mades le pillow ou of scuthion from the sofa, corered ‘rth ome, On hele, there {snow only ane pill: [notice ‘hae the bedside tabla been ‘turned around so thatthe throught Listen, gag No, you'e ot bringing me dows, Liste, Leny ust got bere. 1800 to go bur call as soon ae lean.” Tam till notable to asume posession of myhome hate ‘Sivided the worleandcrnnot combine the ling and smiling part withthe phone boat. Feary uttheasignment ikea Bure rat. Step by step Log my hours Pil drvesby faced convertible Mercedes Pig #2 omnes by wearing Thiet tet sys "This grandpa hae vests tating” Tasef he ea gandtache Henode "A grandfatherand you're itngin che test?” Hetells mea neghborhood story: Yesterday someone found ‘woman in the back of aerack ‘near the river Raped and led caw herand id the amell wae very Bad. She had bees therefor ttleastone week, stenled and stabbed repeated, young ogser. "These wornen dod’ tundss- stan" he concider, “Thereisacrowd lookinginto the booth “What's the purpose!” ska wom een” avsthe pe. "She'l tink of something hedecaren ‘A maninaback euitsrope and Inquires: "Isitagrand opening?" Ta End of eit‘Talking Smiles Fed, 8 Cigeenes 145.4, corner of Hudson and Northmore I giver fst ‘endwich tou Blick man with reudlocs sling used maguines tnd books. 1x, "Do you wants ‘sendwich vegan ext one.” "Oh, Ljstate But rake ‘one foraten” ell him his panes are coand sakifbeherslerof customers “‘Notsince moved around ‘he corner” ‘He moved becuse there was soot leak wher he used tobe Hesaysheenjoyacience mags: tines bout numerologyand horoscopes, sas it wil an unl Sunday nigh thn sunny uot ‘Wednesday then ain agin Hekeeprup wits theweather because he wors outside. Heends the conversation suddenly by seyng, "Goodbye" Duration of themeeting: eight minutes Siem les exchange. 1354, Wes Broodwey. offer sandwich #2 toa woman, ‘singling savy, She acepes withoue a word, ‘6302, onthe corner of Canal ‘and Thompson. A young mans digging througha dumpster Taskit he wantsa sndwich, Heepley, "How di you now Iwas hungry" smile Heemlea 6:35 pat, Weee Broad, Amaniabisfitiesisday- reaming on bench. offer hima vndwichandhesay, "Yea but more chan anything its you that wane” Tay it more complicated to get me “Buel want you." “You won't get me” know, but want you." Teveup: "Wells sboutthat tomortow" and he answers, "Youalwayssay the sume thing” ane then stats laughing foul. “The conversation led one ‘minute lend eater four sles 1nd one outburst of laughter. ‘Tomorrow is Sunday. Tdeideto bie someon let smile for me choose D, who wrote book. shout the philosophy of good ‘manners He apreesto replace mePhone Booth Following my inetructon, D charges the water in the vate, places he empty bot oforeng i sxidsa pack of Calons 4 Tie nguine with (0 Siepton onthe cover wo new poetcatd ‘comb, matches He refses howave, 0 uP ‘heeapesecorder His report: "Arrival a 2:4512M, Nobody loks at me, aye because ir would be invasive. Ther don’t seem to ignore me butchoose to leave meto my owa litle People canbe very polite, nore polite ha turious ten [ee surprsingthateople ace no longer eereted by this booth, Ina way those whe don't lookace more interesting Tim apprchensive ‘butmaybe peer by are ping tobe nicer tome than Lexpect More generousto me than Tam other, becouse Ihave tn oligaton tobe kind tnd friend wheter they deat Lam stl tmased by those who don’t comeup to the booth tosee what's happening | wonderwhat have dotoattactthem. Maybeifthereweres hanged ‘man or something.” Dieavet at 4, The "Comments sheet Someone lo taped their own "Comment" sheet which eae Great, except ou seal veloc seflower sede [orth cgortet I topped snaking on cardaloge's ‘dona bt caved in when foundthee Winns ‘and akon! eye ignatre +o, TracersSims we gata, eeT yoo shoal Replace stn owen 0 The cigons tes) Bsc Te whew NT Freund tse apni xt Jou owe? b LG“Talking Sls Food, & Cigars Disreport:"Somany people con he steets seem to be ing ‘phere Two men eure ‘sandwich on Hudson Stet Maybeon Sunday e's more Aico find people who lookhunery “The thied man Lpproach is sltingon the stsirwayof bank {hati on the corner of Spring sod Lafayette Red swollen ace Teomenearhimand hess, “What do you wand I'meaken bby surprise Decausehescems ‘Dagaessve, Buti Tehinkeof| iediferetly, sews who was agzrensve by coming up chim Tactcoatety to my nature which would have meleave place here I've been agresed oftc hima sandwich, He doesn't want ‘one, bute take the cares eritadown tsmoke his fret ‘one and ignores me completly ‘Ymnochungry.t'm nochuners [don’t wantanyhingto eat Hesayethanl you but does't sy ‘vodbye.forgetto smile see fo young men on White Steet, Tamileand so do they. Actually, {on know i is who sale fiat Good, working My ssnile mustbe convincing Ther leo accepeewo saedwiches and ‘puck of cguetesand then tel 276 DOUBLE GAME smeto have good day. ive ‘hee small smilesbut they are good quality "The patkisfllof people who seem to be homeless Wih oly ‘wo snhiche ef, suddely havea these choices. elo sly that Lan'egve each one Something. Thisact of benevo ence makes me fel gity. pick ‘uta couple. have slays been ‘sucker forcouples who sem tohave been together foralone ‘ime smile go overt them sandaskifthey'dlkeasndvich She says, ‘Okay and takes Uhaod the aetone to the me, butit makes me feel horrible because itp altle wet Maybe the tomato wen through the bread, rm notsure laany ese, Ten fe ike ny sandwich- tare not good enough. [don't sranttodiseupr tei peace with ‘conversation. Taleo eave them thewhole pack of Matboros. “They areescited and thank me smile buthey don’.”Monday, September 26 ‘Areva time: 121.4 The lowersareallove the flog but it doct’t sein ikea at of agresion, ‘Mas the winds Thecondis ae gone. Anan fom ‘hat everything ele eitact. The day shuld, cloudy bue wr, The" Gomments” sheet isl, Heel stangly proud when ea: Thisisscr! Tose! Very ice god oi le ‘Thisisterifc; bea thay. Whee she dik? ike Peat (Only an it wo inked aecthngk hir— lathe neato iproeonsnething aswel asthe road cent beanty comfort and ned ge aserse of dimension che sepechinas iif Wonderf—aho didi Very qa ruc Now Yorker! Got de, Shoulda pute. What leh think of nex? Dathial ovr vrs hone both Lehinkthis aro thecgmetes ana id, KindasC Why id ou doth sdb nd of i ie che greasy of lesa odo If yu tying tobe dice, fering Thisistelbyawesore Thrtesocad, ihe Ales K ‘The great hing ee sen m NY Yesitisaloeds like tmgself Kepupthe aoadwek! Missing: the orngejuieg five out of Bilton cups, lever ou of twenty eigzetts all burone pie oF candy.and the popconn Added bunanas, Newey, texieups corn chip, Vole water Coca Cola, red ‘pen candy anda""-othe word "ev10¥"Sixcalleure made between 12nd Tht, thtee concerning poet went two concerning business Theep Call #2 "No, ['m nt accusing you, 'm sting yoo. just that Viney ‘got mad andi staraaty.nined ‘nd ot your mewerig machine, ‘What do you know! How do Teno Histeed coi. Wel, hedidn't know itwae your ‘phone, but id. Jat done ‘alli you'regonnaang up's ‘Somb, You, right! Somebody tleeclled my house at nldnight, tured yourphone. Richie, stop ying. Bulit No, I'm not sad, [seed told you. But just don’ tcallane Peal yoo, okay? Vile you... Yes thesame pee. Bye (Caller #3 rads the news sting ‘onthe cha Stays five minutes then even ‘While amat the phone booth, convertion sats berween two old women "people weil Lean't believe it someone teil, ean’ believe fe” "Whathappened there!” "don know, someone got killed here, maybe” "Why don you set" “Nahi sad luck” Why" "That's what thik. Ie kinda wind” "So why would tbebed luck” “Idon’t know le someone cles phone” "Oh, eooutoteerpect” "like wating room." "Sure Mapsines, sigaretes "Lehi the drug dealers You know the drogdealer They imusthave putthie hiro” “Doth takeitdown everyday “*Notheyeavetup the.” Nah, chiewouldaelast, overnight” "Whose operation ith” "vee hee fore week.” “Yourmean nobody lathe grown takesitove! Lan't bee that.” ‘A woman comes shoutsthat shes he chalran ofthe comms: nity board: "Do you havea permit todo what youdidtothisphone? From the telephone company or (Community Board #1? Are you rerponribe for thie Someone sd that you peone weredoingehis ery dey. Do youbavea permit todothin sllentand 5 my sifis264 DOUBLE GAME: Talkeg Smiles, Food, 8 Cigarees iseefualromaman bythe name of Miguel Angel. “Hil, ida," he sy" rom Santander, ear Cadi.” “Yet now Cadi" Ttll i, “Oh, wel Lnever wen there” “"Younever went there!” (Caleeady sense that thisisgoingtobeslong conversation, and Tam sot mistaken) "No, [never went there. W's the nly place ‘Burope never weneta To my motheland haven't ‘been. nase dey were’ the war Iwas oer ‘there during the war In Belgium, Germany, France, lly, Northof Alea. a8 ""Wasit good?” (haven iden why Tasethis lbsurd question, butldo) "God, how could itbe good? Ie wasthe wat. ‘Wevere iting. There wae a German generals ‘wecalled him the Fox the Desert.” Toffer him asandwch, He want to know what ol tomato lettuce and rye Bread.” ‘Aconveration concerning his sistance to cold weather follows Aftesifteen minutes [fel ithas lasted long enough. The man doesn’ seem to share sy Insc remember Pauls woods "Tey keep {heseconverstions oingarlong at youcas," but they haven effect on me decide to disobey: Leut imo and eave ‘A.man with no teeth and bright resin isthe ‘iat to sale at me Taek he wants a sundich, “Okay, [gorto say ona diet, Any meat in hat sandwich ‘Cause notiag beats beef” esccepsthe ham, "Okay, s0 let yougo, hank you, and we'll together asi.” He aya this lnteentence winking his eye. Toffer the second sndwich anda pack of cigarettes ‘tonman sittngin the pack, and the tir to an old ‘man with abat, carrying two plastic bag (lof old ‘eper snd bis of cardboard. "Hello aig Thave a, ‘xtra sandwich eas “A sandwich” "You want money for sandwich "No,do you wanta sendwich, [have one ""Whyidotlook so poo!" "No, bat wasjust wondering." "Del oko poor don't rellywantto eat ‘any more mgonnago home [gota bagel and some soup That's enough forme, thanks alot. Dollook:0 poor" "Mo, but have too much fod, Ieoulda't Ssh” "Wel okay. give tom wpe then." “Towhoa” ‘Tomylawrer. Yes they're stealing my sister's ‘esate give ittohim. Yet, mysiste'sestae, Teed someone to handle hand him the sandwich “Yeah, Il give iro him." Then he leaves offer dhelartsunhvich end pack of eigaetes tox man with ples of bagsand blankets around bin. He bean by nunching nto monolog “Waiee minute, let me el you, Mayor Kock. ‘Pegonea ell you one hing You know the Mayer, whatshis name, the Mayor of Lake, New Jersey. umes Chap You know what ames Chap di? “They only had one market, wellhead another rmatket bil Yerma'sm. Hemadeie Middle Street ‘Marke, be madeit: Wait minute, Thelady used tohavea concession down there He builtone nd that man steady. He's ready. He's amos Chap is name James Chap and hegotit. He's doing Isthing. Yesma'am. Thet maa something else” Tey timid “Yes, okay see you estopsmeand eays:"Now you waits minut, ‘ome ovecere.” And hestarsall vec agun Ielasts twenty minutes, Teep aconstant smile throughout “Thy siesgoe,wentshrerecied Four sandwiches aceped onerefsed Tuopachsfcigeenesaccered Fonyaco mines conersation“Talking Smiles, Food, 8 Cigarees, 104.M, West Broadway below Canal. “Thave a «extra sandwich, would you lke ie" He takes itand lesver Notimetosmile rst refasl, on Canal Street, “Excuse mes havea exteassadwich.” fois lrg, thankyou, Yougota cise? Teantcguet ha'sll." {am outof stock nd goto the nearest shop and buy pack of Camelsand apack of Marlboros He ‘chootes the pack of Marlborosand stats talking lela fifey-hece minutesand forty seconds. Ldo not stop him. [know iis ry last dey and my lst ‘hance to obey estas this “He'sgonaa atch up with you, God. God will Jetyou know. The said he wasloco ina mental hospital me know he row upasadummny in Goodwin Boston. She come from England Het ame isBobby. She drank alot.” ery tounderstand and ask, "Who ls Bobby?" “Bobby! She's supposed tbe the mother of the baby.” “"Yourbaby?: Noy me "Oh, he's your mother?” “She eft with he pocke book and forget about ‘therestof us yeah.” “Oh, bu that ws long ago, was” fo, these are alians alan..." fur lind” "Na. Lew uphere an sit and then goes, bbuct watched television and God. Butse, they don't know: Reverendis from England, My mother dont tell me this She grow up with alias, she ke Talans she don't understand thereat of us und television, the mental hospital. Thsislow-lass ‘Aerie, They don't understand the rest of vs Hetakesthe store and forgets about the rst of us {hen he's gonna send me back to Stamford and theyre gonna give me ils inthe mental hospital ‘These are Spanish people, yway They would not believe me f Ttld them anyway Heie Spanish and he'safigpot.”| islast wordeare “God isdoingall the work ind he'teyingto tell me that loco and be'srylag takeoff withallthe goods" And he goes One senile asthe beginning, One athe end But forget to smile daring the convertion. Sell tie ine way toed, Teoek up my second efusil ofthe day with man ina bloc bae walking deve Broaday-"Helo, What a beautifa hat youve: Thaveanexta sandwich. Do you want" He ils but doesnt stop Teould Inve tried to start aconverstion but Lam stil ied fromthe lst one 50st et go, although of course Tamil back, ‘Sandwich #2 apastacqunitance The man swith he yellow waterresistantrado, Sendwich #3 toaman siting onabenchon “Thompson Stet He sks me for money Laffer sssndivich, Henod Teme ll in! like is sie snd that hopeflly the weather willchange tormor- row Hesmiles backend say, "Yes ma'am. Goodbye." Fastand ey Alleeguicements met. “Thi esl fromamen whoa fet sight apres 10 fulfill anumber of the conditions: toen pants ireyhands stingon the steps of building [ask it hewantsa sandwich and hebutks,"Dofook like ned one" realize he mani atully over weight and probably sitingon the stepsof his own howe afer aday’swork, Timetoatop. leatthe lastsandwich nd open up the pack of Camels. 1:30PM. Eadof theassignmentThat same evening I have dinner with Paul Auster. I inform him that I have put an end to the Gotham Handbook. Maybe lam still wearing that contrived smile during the evening, because at one point Paul leans over to me, speaking softly asif at a patient’s bedside: “It’s over, Sophie. ... It’s over. You can stop smiling now.”