Chapter 10 Summary

Chapter 10 begins in the men's room with the flush of a urinal. A man whistles "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" and Howie points out that tunes like that can float about in the men's room all day through propagation. Howie opens the men's room door rather forcefully, startling the whistler, Alan Pilna. He navigates his way into the bathroom; a corporate VP—Les Guster—is brushing his teeth in the sink next to him. The act is unbusinesslike, and it surprises Howie that Guster has the gall to do it.

Next Howie goes to the urinal and begins to relax into the experience. However, then Don Vanci starts in two urinals next to him, and then Guster turns off the water. Bathroom sounds filled the air, newspapers, sighs, urinating, farting. In a footnote, Howie notes how surprised he is at how...