Who He?

Коллекция текстов · novel

Chapter I
Every morning I hate to be born, and every night I'm afraid to die. I live my life within these parentheses, and since I'm constantly walki…
Chapter II (1)
Jake Lennox had been fighting a losing battle with himself for ten years, and it was a struggle he had never been aware of. The two levels…
Chapter II (2)
"Listen," Ween began to explain, "My boy is—" "Your boy is going to lay a suit for breach of contract in your lap if you don't watch him."…
Chapter III (1)
The Lennox apartment was on Knickerbocker Square which is one of scores of hidden relics of the past concealed on The Rock. There are elong…
Chapter III (2)
It was a woman's hand, warm, slender and strong. Each time he grasped it, his spine tingled and he thought of the deep carpets in the netwo…
Chapter III (3)
"Listen to me," he said. "My name is Jordan Lennox, I'm thirty-five years old. Unmarried. My income is thirty-five thousand a year. I have…
Chapter IV (1)
Four o'clock in the morning after Christmas I was trying to see how many different ways I could type NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD MEN TO CO…
Chapter IV (2)
Bacon was a short, stocky Irishman in his mid forties. He had an impudent boyish face on which he had superimposed an expression of pugnaci…
Chapter V (1)
"I've got to look into a butcher store," Fink said. "Drive over with me. You can tell me about those letters." They got into a dusty car pa…
Chapter V (2)
"The Calabash King." Lennox nodded modestly. He leaned across her again, his hand groping for hers. "Are you in this here theaterical game,…
Chapter VI (1)
When I was a kid on the Rock, one of my friends turned racketeer and went into the bicycle-stealing business. He put the heist on six bikes…
Chapter VI (2)
It so happened that my wife was in Raeburn Sachs' office when Lennox dropped in. She had been called down unexpectedly. Sachs' wife, a disc…
Chapter VI (3)
"It isn't that," Lennox answered. "It's the Poison Pen test. That was a bomb. You were right, Kitten. I'm an amateur. I should have stayed…
Chapter VII (1)
It took Lennox eleven hours to struggle through the script for the January 15th "Who He?" show. He consumed one ream of paper, half a pound…
Chapter VII (2)
Avery Borden of Borden, Olson and Mardine (nicknamed Borden's Oleomargarine by the business) arrived with disastrous news. The client had d…
Chapter VIII
A head-shrinker once explained to me that people confronted with a crisis act exactly like a J-walker about to be run down by a car. They d…
Chapter IX (1)
Like most agencies, Borden's Oleomargarine was born of treason. In 1940, Borden, Olson and Mardine, the three top account men of Riley & Re…
Chapter IX (2)
On the left, from wall to wall, was a line of open booths with waist-high shelves dimly lit by green shaded lamps. Through the booths was t…
Chapter IX (3)
"Come to the show Sunday," Lennox called after him. "The Venice Theater at nine o'clock. Ask for Jordan Lennox." He issued the same invitat…
Chapter X (1)
Nine o'clock the next morning, Roy Audibon left Gracie Hospital and took a cab down to the network. His ribs were taped, his face was bruis…
Chapter X (2)
"It's musical ornamentation," Cooper grinned. "Didn't I ever tell you? They're the old names for trills and grace notes and such, but they…
Chapter X (3)
"I know you're burning and I don't blame you, but I want to tell you something. I'm having a rough time myself this week and I'll take just…
Chapter XI (1)
Audibon took Gabby's hand and pressed it gallantly. Then he led her across the sidewalk to the waiting cab. He helped her in, followed, and…
Chapter XI (2)
"No," she said bitterly. "It was a roll in the hay with a stranger." "For God's sake, Gabby...." "That's what you're turning it into. You'r…
Chapter XII (1)
By five o'clock Saturday morning, Lennox had walked himself to exhaustion. He slipped into the apartment in 33 Knickerbocker Square and wen…
Chapter XII (2)
Lennox entered with his mind intent on dinner. He permitted an attendant to take his coat, went into the bar on the street floor, nodded to…
Chapter XII (3)
"No-no-no," Lennox said. "He'sa whore. Thinksee writes clever with his fancy filth from's stinkin' sewer mind. People like me don't think h…
Chapter XIII
Gabby had gone to bed early Saturday night. The work of catching twelve white pigeons and cleaning up their droppings had exasperated and e…
Chapter XIV (1)
Lennox awoke in the role of Mr. Lefty Leftwich from Brockton, Mass. He turned over in bed like a ship launched sideways and immediately beg…
Chapter XIV (2)
"Promoting me?" Cooper laughed hysterically. "You're an expert, aren't you? You've promoted yourself to hell." "Maybe I have, but I'm not q…
Chapter XV (1)
THE BODY CAME DOWN AND JERKED THE BODY CAME DOWN AND JERKED THE BODY CAME down and jerked the body came down and jerked thebodycamedownandj…
Chapter XV (2)
"No, I'm serious." Gabby watched him closely with solemn dark eyes. "You're two people in one. Everybody is, more or less, and it doesn't m…
Chapter XVI
This Friday, Robin and I packed a bag, bought groceries and liquor, got into the car and got off The Rock. We drove out toward Trenton, and…