Summary

Pem resigns from the church and experiences an identity crisis. He considers getting rid of his ecclesiastical possessions and books but decides to keep them. He discusses Augustine’s City of God with Everett. Everett records the words of The Song is You and tells the story of a young man from New Jersey who escapes from the poverty, abuse, and hardship of his life by becoming a singer. He has always admired those singers who create songs of true artistry and meaning, but he escapes to his dream city of New York, the alabaster city, by singing romance ballads. The song is New York City.

The ex-Times reporter decides to close another story and goes to Queens to assassinate a former Guatemalan death-squad commander. He is caught before he can complete his task, and it looks like he is going to be killed, but he...