This week, Core77 is co-publishing a collection of Significant Objects stories written about items curated by Paola Antonelli. Bid on this Significant Object, with a story by Helen DeWitt, here. Proceeds from this auction go to Girls Write Now.
I need an agent to deal with my agent. This was the thought. Bill was to be the buffer: Jonathan is a pathological liar, I am a pathological truthteller, and Bill was to be the man-in-the-middle, the go-between, the Janus—something intermediary, anyhoo. That's what middlemen are for. One day Bill resigned.
On a market stall I happened to see, oh how lovely! a SARS mask within a plastic envelope. You needed protection yourself, Bill; you needed your very own personal plastic envelope. And I didn't know. And more to the purpose, because life must go on, here was a chance to practice my Japanese! The label included both English text and an enchanting title for the object incorporating both hiragana and katakana: よyo こko はha マma スsu ク ku. I didn't know that masuku was Japanese for mask, Bill, did you?
About the author: Helen DeWitt is the author of The Last Samurai. She lives in Berlin and blogs at paperpools.blogspot.com. She is no longer represented by Bill Clegg of WME Entertainment.
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