Once, in Lisbon, I tried my best to work the phone book in a way that would assuage a longing [Alice and I] had for certain Chinese dishes . . . .
Calvin TrillinI suppose it's possible that the Sundance Kid didn't like to make much of his birthdays โ they may have struck him as just another reminder that his draw was getting slower by the yearโbut what if he truly liked a major celebration? What if he looked forward every year to marking the day of his birth with what they used to call in the West 'a real wingding, with pink balloons and a few survivors'?
Calvin Trillin