The Empire of Ice Cream
“Frank was a consummate storyteller in the Irish tradition, which, at times, made him a dangerous person to drink with. I could begin the evening with the idea that I’d have one or two and then head home, but when Frank was inspired, he could tell a story so long and involved, so rich with detail and looped with digressions, that the next thing I knew, Virgil, the bartender, was signaling last call and Frank would say, pulling his wallet from his pocket, “Okay, one more for the ditch.”
On one of... these nights, Frank told me a story that encompassed the entirety of his tour of duty in Vietnam. The next day, due to its deletion by a splitting headache, I remembered precious little of the story, but one small crumb of the aggregate stayed with me—a story about a guard tower in Saigon. This particular incident didn’t happen to Frank personally, but rather to his brother, who was also stationed there. Frank was a master of digression in his storytelling, as I said, and I remembered we detoured out of the main story as he filled me in on his and his comrades’ prevalent use of pot during the war.MoreLess
On one of... these nights, Frank told me a story that encompassed the entirety of his tour of duty in Vietnam. The next day, due to its deletion by a splitting headache, I remembered precious little of the story, but one small crumb of the aggregate stayed with me—a story about a guard tower in Saigon. This particular incident didn’t happen to Frank personally, but rather to his brother, who was also stationed there. Frank was a master of digression in his storytelling, as I said, and I remembered we detoured out of the main story as he filled me in on his and his comrades’ prevalent use of pot during the war.MoreLess
Read book The Empire of Ice Cream for free
Write Review:
Guest
Read Also
10 / 10
User Reviews: