Call me Oscar Progresso. Or, for that matter, call me anything you want, as Oscar Progresso is not my name. Nor are Baby Supine, Euclid Cherry, Franklyn Nuts, or any of the other aliases that, now and then over the years, I have been forced to adopt. No one knows my real name anymore: it's been too long. And all the things that I myself once knew are like a ship glittering in the dark, moving away from me as I am left in homely silence. My time is drawing to a close, so I thought I would take one last shot.
- From Memoir from Antproof Case by Mark Helprin
I have not read this novel in years. Was thinking of giving it away, but glanced at the first paragraph and thought, "This deserves another reading."
If Mark Helprin is not the greatest living American novelist, he's in the top three.
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