WHEN I FINISHED READING, I remained standing in my reading spot beside the fire, and I said, “If I may be permitted to say something slightly sentimental — a great sin in our cynical times — I would like to thank all of you for being here and listening to me, and saving me from suffering Baldy’s fate — ”
“You don’t really think you were his only listener, do you?” asked Lou, calling from the bar.
“I — well, no, probably not, but — ”
“Most people just don’t bother to respond to an appeal like that,” Lou suggested.
“I’m sure you’re right,” I said, “but I really only wanted to say — ”
“There were probably thousands of people listening.”
“Probably — ”
“Tens of thousands.”
“Hey, Hamlet, my old buddy,” called Artie, “shut up.”
“Geez! You’re right,” said Lou, smacking himself on the forehead. “I don’t know what got into me. Sorry. Go on, Peter.”
“All I wanted to say was that, as grateful as I am to all of you for listening to me, I have found that an audience of one is all the audience anyone needs — ” I turned toward Albertine. “ — if she’s the right one.”
“Oh! That’s wonderful!” said Alice.
“You see that, Lou?” said Artie. “You almost spoiled a beautiful moment there.”
“Yeah,” said Lou.
[to be continued]
Subscribe to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy
Share The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy
Have you missed an episode or two or several?
You can begin reading at the beginning or you can catch up by visiting the archive or consulting the index to the Topical Guide. The Substack serialization of Little Follies begins here; Herb ’n’ Lorna begins here; Reservations Recommended begins here; Where Do You Stop? begins here; What a Piece of Work I Am begins here; At Home with the Glynns begins here; Leaving Small’s Hotel begins here.
You can listen to the episodes on the Personal History podcast. Begin at the beginning or scroll through the episodes to find what you’ve missed. The Substack podcast reading of Little Follies begins here; Herb ’n’ Lorna begins here; Reservations Recommended begins here; Where Do You Stop? begins here; What a Piece of Work I Am begins here; At Home with the Glynns begins here; Leaving Small’s Hotel begins here.
You can listen to “My Mother Takes a Tumble” and “Do Clams Bite?” complete and uninterrupted as audiobooks through YouTube.
You can ensure that you never miss a future issue by getting a free subscription. (You can help support the work by choosing a paid subscription instead.)
At Apple Books you can download free eBooks of Little Follies, Herb ’n’ Lorna, Reservations Recommended, Where Do You Stop?, What a Piece of Work I Am, and At Home with the Glynns.
You can buy hardcover and paperback editions of all the books at Lulu.
You’ll find overviews of the entire work in An Introduction to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy (a pdf document), The Origin Story (here on substack), Between the Lines (a video, here on Substack), and at Encyclopedia.com.
Share this post