My first chore was to copy Fritz’ manuscript. I did it in a little copy shop in Montclair. It took me an hour and a half, and didn’t get to Charlie’s until about eleven am. Sent it off at the end of the day.

Are there still self-service copy shops that that one, or have shared documents made them obsolete?

I remember the boredom of standing beside the printer in that sterile, flouescent-lit space that smelled of electricity and carpet cleaners, making sure everything was in order, and telling myself it SHOULDN’T be boring, this was a new novel by a famous writer.

But it was still boring.