Summary

When the story opens, the narrator, Manuel, and his former coworker, Hank, are drinking in a bar, both having been fired from their jobs at a call center earlier that day. They discussed Abraham Lincoln, and the narrator noted in an aside, “Lincoln was my first love” (38). We do not get a clear confirmation in the story as to whether the Manuel’s first love is meant to be the same as the American president who signed the Emancipation Proclamation. During the story’s main action, Manuel and Hank appear to be in a loosely defined romantic relationship. The story is structured to alternate between Manuel’s narration of the evening in the bar with Hank and his reflections on his relationship with Lincoln.

In the reflections, we learn that Manuel and Lincoln met at a party in Chicago, where...