Summary

In the wake of Ken’s death, “fragments would come spilling out of [Hsu] a few sips into the first beer” (122). He continually imagined Ken’s future, a reality that would never come to pass. Ken’s possessions assumed a “talismanic significance” (124). His friends continued to spend all of their time together, with Hsu often writing short letters to Ken. The entire friend group flew to Southern California for Ken’s funeral. That week, Hsu noticed that “flies were everywhere” (126). He interpreted the flies as, in some way, symbols of Ken’s lingering presence. At the service, Hsu delivered a eulogy, culled from friends’ testimonials of Ken. He notes, in retrospect, that “maybe [the eulogy] hadn’t been a good piece of writing. But it had been perfect” (130).

The friend group then flew back to Berkeley. Hsu felt that music “no longer modeled...