Men and Cartoons (12 page)

Well, I've failed. This whole letter is about A, I see that now. You wonder whether you can stand never to know the touch of a fresh hand, the trembling flavor of a new kiss, and I'm desperately trying to keep from telling you the little I know: it's sweeter than anything, for a moment. For just a moment, there's nothing else. As to all you're weighing it against, your wife and child, I know less than nothing. The wisdom of your ambivalence, the whimsical, faux-jaded wit you share in your letter, as you contemplate the beauties around you, all that poise will be shattered if you act—I can promise you that much. You're more innocent than you know. I speak to you from the dark end of the street, but it's a less informed place than you'd think. All I can do for you is frame the question I've framed for myself: Where to steer the speeding motorcycle of one's own innocence? How to make it a gift instead of a curse?

I think we need a new national anthem.

I'm ending this letter without saying anything about your incredible tale of the salaryman masturbating on the subway. Well, there, I've mentioned it. I'm also grateful to know that Godzilla's not what he's cracked up to be, that he's just another mediocre slugger with a good agent and a memorable nickname. What a joy it would be to see the Yankees really take a pratfall on that move. Bad enough when they pillage the other American teams, but that the world is their oyster too has become unbearable. Of course, the Mets go on signing haggard veterans and I think there's no hope at all, but you can be certain Giuseppe and I will be out at Shea having our hearts broken this May, as always. In our hearts it's always spring, or 1969, or something like that. I only wish we had some outfielders who could catch the ball.

Yours,

E

Also by Jonathan Lethem

The Fortress of Solitude

This Shape We're In

Motherless Brooklyn

Girl in Landscape

As She Climbed Across the Table

The Wall of the Sky, the Wall

of the Eye (Stories)

Amnesia Moon

Gun, with Occasional Music

With Carter Scholz

Kafka Americana

As Editor

The Vintage Book of Amnesia

The Year's Best Music Writing 2002

PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY
a division of Random House, Inc.

DOUBLEDAY
and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Versions of some of these stories first appeared elsewhere. “The Vision” (the opening paragraph of which shares several sentences with
The Fortress of Solitude,
a novel) was published in
Tin House
and reprinted in
Bestial Noise: The Tin House Fiction Reader.
“Access Fantasy” first appeared in
Starlight 2
and was reprinted in
Histories of the Future.
“The Spray” was published in
Fetish.
“Planet Big Zero” was published in
Lit
and reprinted in
The KGB Bar Reader.
“The Glasses” was published in the
Voice Literary Supplement.
“The Dystopianist, Thinking of His Rival, Is Interrupted by a Knock on the Door” was published in
Conjunctions
and reprinted in
Pushcart Prize Stories XXVIII.
“Super Goat Man” was published in
The New Yorker.
“The National Anthem” was published in
Black Clock
and was reprinted in
Lit Riffs.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lethem, Jonathan.
                  Men and cartoons : stories / Jonathan Lethem.—1st ed.
                                    p. cm.
                  Contents: The vision—Access fantasy—The spray—Vivian Relf—Planet big zero—The glasses—The dystopianist, thinking of his rival, is interrupted by a knock on the door—Super goat man—The national anthem.
                  I. Title.
PS3562.E8544M46 2004
813'.54—dc22
2004050039

Copyright © 2004 by Jonathan Lethem

All Rights Reserved

eISBN: 978-0-307-27696-4

v3.0