Whatever Happened to Harold Absalon?
Page 16
The bus continued to accelerate, his left foot joined his right on the lower deck, and he moved swiftly, now, across the platform, with its lines of ridges, which he assumed, in passing, were there to help passengers keep their footing in that area. Approaching the edge of the platform, he looked back in the direction in which he had seen Harold Absalon. The window of the showroom in question now just reflected the trailing bus, which was, once again, gaining on them, on the inside, and travelling at quite a speed. Without looking behind him – without, in short, a further thought for Isobel Absalon – he stepped off the platform.
26. No, it wasn’t the regularity of her indecency that disturbed me; it was the fact that the figure I witnessed getting into that king-sized bed night after night, and doing all those unspeakable things to her was me.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Samaggavasans past and present for the supportive conditions in which to write this book, and for listening to and commenting upon various drafts over the years. In particular I’d like to thank Paramabandhu, Jnanavaca, Maitreyaraja, Stephen Heppell, Aaron Matheson, Rob Hirsch, Phap Dan, Geoff Sheridan, Mattias Herbertson, Canute Clarke, Knut Wilmott, Jed Shamel, Anthony Wright, Adam Berrisford, Jim Taylor, but most of all Maitreyabandhu without whose friendship, interest, belief and guidance I doubt the book would have been written. Thanks, also, to mum and David, Sanghasiha, Kyle Brown, David O’Neill, Victoria Okotie, Tony and Anne Okotie, Maitripushpa, Linda Mannheim, Izabella Grogan, Kalyanavaca, Vidyadaka, David John and Paul Gapper for interest, help and faith over the years. Thank you to Karen Hart, publicity person extraordinaire, and such fun to work with, and to Simon Hardeman. Thanks, also, to John Oakey for the beautiful cover, to David Rose and Lee Rourke, for comments on advance copies, and to The White Review, for publishing early chapters. I feel hugely fortunate to have an editor of the calibre of Nicholas Royle, and it is a privilege to have such exciting and enthusiastic publishers as Jen and Chris Hamilton-Emery. And to my darling SuYen Tan, for your kindness and perseverance in spending significant time with one whose mind can get caught in such self-regarding ruminations as contained herein: heartfelt thanks, and love.