... I tried to end our little duel. I called out pacifying words; I entreated; I finally surrendered. Still Clyde came, my pirate costume so great a success that it had apparently convinced him that we were back in the golden days of romantic old New Orleans when gentlemen decided matters of hot dog honor at twenty paces

you can always tell employees of the government by the total vacancy which occupies the space where most other people have faces.

I mingle with my peers or no one, and since I have no peers, I mingle with no one.

with the breakdown of the medieval system, the gods of chaos, lunacy, and bad taste gained ascendancy.

Leaving New Orleans also frightened me considerably. Outside of the city limits the heart of darkness, the true wasteland begins.

I avoid that bleak first hour of the working day during which my still sluggish senses and body make every chore a penance. I find that in arriving later, the work which I do perform is of a much higher quality.

It will all end very badly, Gus