And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

joint of joints, the Imperial Café. Here were two floors and five rooms of sailors, soldiers, and seamen, women, music, whiskey, smoke, and fights.

“It was all a blur to me. I remember

We were still drunk—we’d been drunk all the three days—and we didn’t care about anything

It’s for five months and I’m broke, you know that. But don’t worry, we’ll get a ship together. Just leave it to me

Weekends in New York started Thursday and ended Tuesday

His calm was becoming apathy

Drugs, which he had used periodically for years to sharpen his senses and provide the stimulation necessary for long and irregular hours, were becoming a necessity.

A typical modern Puritan, she was able to believe in sin without believing in God

Almost immediately, complete relaxation spread over me

When I got back to my apartment it was too early to go to bed. I fooled around the room for a while, played a few games of solitaire, and decided to take morphine, which I hadn’t done in several weeks

circus fire, and I heard him say, “And the hippos were boiled to death in their tanks.”