We’ll be waiting for a storm to bluster in from the south, and I’ll see the relevant part of him lying flushed and heavy against his thigh, and I’ll think about how I’d consider taking it in my mouth if the room were cooler by as little as two degrees. That will remind me of Roy and his wife, and I’ll feel like talking about them. And I’ll start by telling my husband that I used to know this couple who, on learning they were going to have a baby, began taking long walks together in the evening.
I might not use their real names. It would be hard, though, not to reveal Roy’s, which seemed almost to have shaped his personality. His given name— much to his embarrassment—was Royal, and, in defiance of his parents’ grandiosity, he’d cultivated an unroyal persona. He was a humble guy, self-effacing. He lived his life—at least his public, social life—as if he were answering a survey about it. If someone asked, “How was your trip to Fiji, Roy?,” his answer might be “I’d describe myself as having enjoyed it.” The trouble was that he took his humility to such lengths that he actually came across, in the end, as kingly—detached, benevolent, devoid of individuality. His opinions and tastes and desires were as carefully bland as a king’s must be. A polite king, I mean, who coexists with a constitution, and whose irrelevance now and then sparks a complicated optimism about the possibility of a republic. Or, of course, a queen.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 11, 2024-Ausgabe von The New Yorker.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 11, 2024-Ausgabe von The New Yorker.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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GREAT MIGRATIONS
\"Home\" and \"What Became of Us.\"
SICK, SAD WORLD
What COVID did to fiction.
MOVE IN FOR THE CULL
The complicated calculus of killing some wild creatures to protect others.
EVERYTHING IN HAND
The C.I.A.'s covert ops have mattered-but not in the way that it hoped.
CHICAGO ON THE SEINE CAMILLE BORDAS
I used to tell myself stories on the job, to make it feel exciting—spy stories, exfiltration stories, war stories. I used to come up with poignant little details that turned the repatriation cases I worked on into “Saving Private Ryan,” into “Johnny Got His Gun.”
A SEMBLANCE OF PEACE
How life in a co-living community changed after October 7th.
HIS BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY
Ye bought a masterpiece by Tadao Ando-and gave it a violent remix.
SCREEN GRAB
How CoComelon conquered children's television.
FOND OF FLAGS
My wife is fond of fast food. I am not. My wife is particularly fond of the Wendy’s Baconator. I argue that it’s less expensive to order a Dave’s Double with a side of bacon, then put your own pretzels on top. (I’m fond of the Rold Gold Tiny Twists Original.)
TROPHY ROOM
Going on safari.