Austen’s Reviews > The Rich and the Profane > Status Update

"This morning the whole world seemed dross. Dross attitudes, dross fakes, dross bargains, dross people. It's our civilization. Right there and then, I could have stopped the world and got off."

"Satan funds his own." Straight from the horse's mouth, I almost said, but caught myself in time.

This geezer was up to something. Dunno what, but I'd go along for a while and find out. I didn't come up the river on a bicycle, as people say. Not sure what it means, but it seemed right for this occasion.

"I looked away to get my breath. 'How should I know?' I felt rotten, moved away. The rare antique beamed after me. I wanted to have a word with it, see how it felt, being so valuable among this load of crud."