The Lost Civilization of Deli Summary

Stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel, the narrator remembers his editor's dismay and General Motors' displeasure at his article. A cop heads past him toward the obstruction ahead. He remembers a movie about men building the Lincoln Tunnel, and thinks that working men are never the heroes anymore. A bus with a big gin ad on the side, showing a tropical beach, stops beside him, and he thinks of the ad agents toiling over the attractive scene. In "The Lost Civilization of Deli," the narrator imagines a future archaeological dig at a lost city, buried in the sea during the last Ice Age and recently re-emerged, called enigmatically "Big Apple." Many theorists believe it must have been an agricultural society. They don't know what to make of such fragmentary titles as "Fun City" and "Queens Plaza...