“So I’m a drinker?” “Are you not?” “I’ve always been bright. That’s the problem…” Jan points to the notebook open on the young man’s lap, indicating he ought to be taking this down. “… Always felt every shade of meaning in the room, and so yes, I drink. But methodically—in the evenings, and all day on Sundays—to quiet my mind. My father, you see, whom I did not meet until I was grown, diagnosed my personality almost immediately after making my acquaintance. You’re the type who never misses a trick, he said. And then he added, You’ll suffer for it.”
