Analyst

They were our guests for dinner in our small diningroom on a quiet street in an obscure suburb of the somewhat obsolete city where we lived. We had roast beef and baked potatoes and bourbon whiskey in wide glasses. We talked of the old days. It was a pleasant meal.

Our friends brought one of their sons with them, a darkeyed young man with untidy hair and an irregular face who sat sprawled in his chair eating and drinking without saying a word until all at once his voice tears the sociable smiling prandial mood apart, like the screech of chalk on a blackboard.

JD

About the Author

John Dos Passos

John Dos Passos (1896–1970) was an acclaimed American novelist and frequent contributor to National Review.

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They were our guests for dinner in our small diningroom on a quiet street in an obscure suburb of the somewhat obsolete city where we lived. We had roast beef and baked potatoes and bourbon whiskey in wide glasses. We talked of the old days. It was a pleasant meal.

Our friends brought one of their sons with them, a darkeyed young man with untidy hair and an irregular face who sat sprawled in his chair eating and drinking without saying a word until all at once his voice tears the sociable smiling prandial mood apart, like the screech of chalk on a blackboard.