Some Trick

by Helen DeWitt

If what I have is what I said I wanted It’s not what I wanted I know what I want But I don’t know its name.

He felt slightly the worse for wear, truth be told, having been up since dawn the previous day, what with all the packing and discarding and fare-thee-welling not to mention actual traveling, not to mention the excitements of the day, but Iowans take their sociability seriously.