Dept. of Speculation

by Jenny Offill

But my agent has a theory. She says every marriage is jerry-rigged. Even the ones that look reasonable from the outside are held together inside with chewing gum and wire and string.

I have an excellent agent and this is indeed her theory. She said it very cheerfully one day at lunch and I kept thinking about how true it was so finally I put it in a novel which is where I put bits of advice I don’t want to forget.