Jonah: In the sci-fi novel The Space Merchants, a 1950s classic by

Frederick Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, an overpopulated and resource-depleted

world of the future is fed in part by an object named Chicken Little–a huge

mountain of chicken meat that grows from the inside. Workers patrol its

perimeter constantly, shaving off slabs with chain saws. Chicken Little

becomes a key plot device–fugitives from justice hide inside it, in some

way I have forgotten. The other thing I remember from the novel is one rich

lady admiring another rich lady’s ring with a precious insert: “Is that

real oak?”….