The Last Phone Booth in Manhattan

by Beth Merlin

My father used to say rock bottom will teach you the lessons the mountaintops never could.

“Sometimes when I’m not sure which direction to go, I think about what I was doing the last time I was happy and try to do some more of that.

“I guess it’s true what they say: the greatest love stories are rarely a straight line, now are they?”

knickknacks, tchotchkes, and antique trinkets practically

“Art is not a pleasure, a solace, or an amusement; art is a great matter.”