Summary

Part III is named, “Dissolutions: Antepenultimate” and opens with a section entitled, “Embedment: The dismissal of shame.” The scene is a 1970 cocktail party attended by Hitch, Martin, and Joan Juliet Buck, an editor for Vogue. Hitch speaks to Juliet in charming fashion, telling her she looks radiant. Then he refers to her recent health issues (which he calls “feminine ailments” (259)). Joan responds with the phrase, “It’s my fucking tits now” (259). Admiring the phrase’s defiance, candidness, and humor, Martin and Hitch use this quote many times after in conversation.

In the next section, “Boston, 2003: Something altogether new,” Martin visits Saul in his home, and Saul repeatedly asks, “Tell me, how are Nat and Gus?” (260). This is the only phrase Saul uses throughout the conversation. This visit makes Martin realize that the warnings that Saul’s dementia would progress were true.

In “Long...