Chapter 15 Summary

As Howie leaves the escalator, he sees a cigarette butt rolling around. He steps on the mezzanine and watches it. He sees the maintenance man at the bottom of the stairs and waves; the maintenance man waves back.

Chapter 15 Analysis

The last chapter has great significance despite being a mere paragraph in length. It is Howie's first thought after the escalator thought—the observation of a cigarette butt rolling around quickly, faster than a jar of mayonnaise rolling along in the supermarket. The thought is innocent, but it contains the potential to explode into detail, just as the previous fleeting thought did, becoming an entire book.