Summary

The chapter begins with Mendelssohn stating that he chooses to walk with a walking stick because he dislikes using a wheelchair. Mendelssohn and Sally begin to walk to the restaurant where Mendelssohn is to have lunch with Elliot. On the walk, Mendelssohn begins to think about the nature of the blood that one inherits and, how he wished he had Italian blood like Tony, the doorman, who was Italian and once tried to read Kant, but could not. The two watch as a vehicle almost hits a bicyclist and Mendelssohn internally comments that New York moves too fast. He also thinks about his days at the Supreme Court, and he theorizes that he was elected because the Democratic Party needed a liberal Jew on the bench. He also thinks about the times when he heard Sally sobbing in her room...