Summary

This chapter begins with Baker’s description of a reconnection with his friend Nick, which began “when his crew of high school friends merged with my crew in those years of shitty apartments and shitty relationships and shitty jobs that are pretty much the best years ever” (73). An email from Nick came in response to the magazine article, a message in which Nick described his guilt at not attending a friend’s wedding because he (Nick) felt, having four children, that he could not afford to go. The email also referenced how Nick and a group of friends got together every week to go for a bike ride together, but did not really connect. All this, Baker says, led to his recollection of “The Night Before Thanksgiving” (74), a ritual get-together he and his friends had had for many years. He describes...