The Golem of Brooklyn

by Adam Mansbach

He drank the neck off his beer and thought about the obscurely revolting phrase drank the neck off his beer, as he did every single time he drank a beer because he’d once read a hacky detective novel that employed it whenever a character drank a beer, and everybody in that book was an alcoholic.

Miri seemed like she was perpetually figuring out how to be normal,

“Two Jews, three opinions,”

“So…he’s an alcoholic?” said Miri. “No, no,” said Len. “I wouldn’t say that at all. He’s more of a drunk.”