Theory of My Life

Urquhart breathed out a screen of smoke. "He's been reading all about effacement of the subject, about the self as a scene of inscription, a writing space, society of mind. Hello Auntie Oedipus, meet Mister Moving Difference." He trimmed his cigar blindly into what he thought was an ashtray. "He's been through it all, for what it was worth, which in his humble opinion ain't real much. The Japanese, for whom U. has great respect, have a good description for this kind of thinking. 'Table theory,' they call it. Blowing in the wind." He put his tongue between his lips and illustrated.

"Refreshing to hear you say that," Jude told him.

"But then one day," he continued, "U. saw the light. What was table theory turned suddenly into his life story. It came to him quite graphically. U. had a look in the mirror and there they was. All sorts of him, shimmering, swarming. All at once, manyness."

"Groovy."