#book

Back on the call to Young, I sense he is getting tired we've been speaking for well over an hour, and I've been informed that he has been working round the clock preparing for his forthcoming performance. I start to wrap up our interview, and as I get ready to say goodbye, he says, very sincerely: 'I really hope I have answered your questions and that my answers have been useful to you,' and thanks me for taking an interest in his work.

I thank him back and, although I've been advised not to ask about his influence on pop and rock musicians - apparently he takes no interest in it-I decide that, since we've stayed on such good terms, I'll venture one last question about his legacy and how it feels to have shaped the careers of so many other artists within and far beyond his own practice.

'Is it true?' he asks, before chuckling to himself for a while. And then finally he replies, 'The thing is, it's not about ego gratification. It's about trying to do the right thing, and if you try to do the right thing with your life and other people agree you're doing the right thing, then that's very satisfying.'

— Everything We Do Is Music by Elizabeth Alker

Sorry to trouble you was how the note began, which is such a great opener. Please, trouble me! Trouble me! I've been waiting my whole life to be troubled by a note like this.

Sorry to trouble you but it looked like someone was using a telephoto lens to take pictures through your windows from the street. If it was someone you know, then sorry for the misunderstanding, if not, though, I got the make/model/license of their vehicle.

Brian (from next door) and his phone number

You don't really need a telephoto lens because we have giant windows in front with no curtains. Sometimes I pause before coming inside and watch Harris and Sam innocently going about their business. Harris mutely explaining something to Sam, or lifting Sam into the air. I feel such tenderness toward them. Try to remember this feeling, I say to myself. They are the same people up close as they are from here.

We all immediately knew which neighbor Brian was. The FBI neighbor. If there's one thing we've learned from Brian it's that being in the FBI is not a secret like the CIA. He wears his (bulletproof?) FBI vest with the letters FBI on it way more than could possibly be required. It's like if someone on the Dodgers wore his uniform to water the lawn. All the neighbors would be like, We get it, dude, you're on the Dodgers.

So the first thing Harris did after I read the note aloud was scoff that of course the FBI neighbor had "caught" someone with a "telephoto lens." And the second thing Harris did was nothing. He was busy and didn't think it was worth pursuing.

"It's a little creepy, though, right?"

"People take pictures of everything these days," he said, walking out of the room.

"Do you think I should call him, though?"

But Harris didn't hear me.

— All Fours by Miranda July