The final pages of good novels are tricky things. After investing a couple of dozen hours in reading a book and getting to know its characters, sometimes you don’t want the story to end. If you’re like me you’ll want to savor the last few pages and ease gently out of the narrative. If you want to end a novel properly, timing is crucial. I suggest setting aside the mid-afternoon of your day off. That way, you can hang out with the last few pages or flip back to a random chapter and reread it without worrying about the time. Maybe you’ll want to reflect a bit as the fiction deliquesces back into the paper and ink it came from. There are few better places to do that than at Tully’s coffee on Broadway. Recently, after finishing up a half-day of parking cars, I ambled down to the wedge-shaped Bostwick Building, ordered a French press of Tully’s House Blend, and planted myself in the shade at one of the sidewalk tables, where I took my leave of Cormac McCarthy’s Billy Parham, of The Crossing. Great way to savor a masterpiece. The coffee wasn’t bad, either.

Josh

Comments Feed