Canvas Buffet

"Baba, please," Mo spoke softly. "Of course it does. But sometimes America has to be pushed-it has to be reminded of what it is." "Mo, look at what your life has become." Salman's extended arms and upturned palms beseeched the vacant space. The buffet tables were piled high with kebab meats and pita, dates and fried feta. Mo stuck close to his parents, nodding at familiar faces, dis­ appointed that Laila's was not among them. He couldn't know whether he or the council had kept her at…

of a boy’s first orgasm. Fadeout. For the prepared cakes—sixteen different varieties ranging from pound to crumb to cheese—there was what Vic called the George and Gracie spot. We fade in on George and Gracie leaving a posh dinner party where the buffet table groans with every possible delicacy. We dissolve to a dingy little cold-water flat, starkly lighted. George is sitting at a plain kitchen table with a checked tablecloth. Gracie takes a Sharp Pound Cake (or Cheese Cake or Crumb…

reason for his activity is not to earn money to pay the rent, but instead to indulge his curiosity about a personal question. This definition calls some things play that we might not ordinarily think of as play, such as an artist experimenting on canvas. On the other hand, he might say he is “playing with color.” A chemist who tries an experiment to test a pet theory — is she playing? She might say she is “playing with an idea.” This definition has flaws (can you find them?), but I do…

coconut cream pie. Which is why they don’t serve that kind of stuff here. The food at the Ashram is vegetarian, light and healthy. But still delicious. Which is why it’s difficult for me not to wolf it down like a starving orphan. Plus, meals are served buffet-style, and it never has been easy for me to resist taking a second or third turn at-bat when beautiful food is just lying out there in the open, smelling good and costing nothing. So I’m sitting at the dinner table all by myself,…

was our communication hub, so I tried to keep abreast of everyone’?s position and to be there when each man came back to fill up with trees. Back at camp at the end of the day, we’?d all sit around long, bingo-style tables in a big, rectangular canvas prospector’?s tent to eat. A typical meal consisted of potatoes, frozen corn, and sausages stewed in canned tomatoes, and usually cake for dessert. I typically saved my cake for breakfast, because during the hot summer months, our days…