It’s great, right? Did you manage to read the full colour edition?

Beautiful. I had a rat for a while. She was awesome.

Thomas Jane, easily. If he was alive in the 40s and 50s, he would have surpassed Bogart as the king of noir.

I can’t believe you got away with that one.

Right? It just slaps so hard.

Sayles is great, especially his dialogue. He is a pretty compelling filmmaker as well.

If that’s your vibe, try Blindsight by Peter Watts. It’s a very technical examination of the phenomenon of consciousness which isn’t afraid to get into the weeds, but never quite gets lost in them.

I’m reading a book of short stories by John Sayles, called The Anarchists’ Convention. There have been some absolute bangers so far.

One of my favourite books of all time. Do you have the full colour edition?

Hi, I’m four babies in a trenchcoat. My interests include grown-up things like businessing and adulting. I am definitely an adult. Ignore the first sentence.

If you must.

Well done. Set yourself free.

The Gospel Singer by Harry Crews. It’s a masterpiece of grit lit. If you’re not one to shy away from themes like religious obsession, violence and racism, I can highly recommend it.

Looks great. Happy writing.

I don’t really have any niche knowledge; I’m basically an idiot. You make a very fair point. It just doesn’t apply to me.

Oh, that’s more than I did. I just dipped. Here’s hoping I didn’t make someone feel snubbed.

You are welcome to it. Pass it around.

Yeah, it became easier the more I thought about it.

But, like, didn’t we? Where’s the lie?

I would have let a different sperm inseminate the ovum.