Chapter 14 Summary and Analysis

Anatole became acquainted with Delmore Schwartz when had accepted a piece Anatole had written for Partisan Magazine. Although he admired Delmore's intellectualism and love of the literary, it was almost as though his head was so wrapped up in books that he was unable to accept the raw data of reality. He saw the large, looking past the small. Although Anatole aspired to be an intellectual, when he read a book, he made sure he kept an eye on the real world.

Anatole told Delmore and two other colleagues about a night he witnessed a murder in Spanish Harlem. When Pablito, a ticket taker, would not allow a man in who hadn't paid, the man pulled a switchblade on him. Pablito was suddenly missing from his post and the rumor spread like wildfire that this man had killed him. Friends of...