Whereas Philip organized his records alphabetically, Paul organized them by the order that they were acquired. Philip wondered how Paul could remember, since the collection of records was at least twenty years old. It’s easy, Paul would explain. The first record I bought was Ziggy Stardust by Bowie. I liked it so much that I [...]

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Jack’s grandfather had been Jewish by birth, but he had become a Catholic when he married Jack’s grandmother, who was of Austrian parentage. Jack’s father had married Jack’s mother, an Italian-American, and they raised Jack in a predominantly Italian-American neighborhood. Jack’s wife Rachel was Jewish by birth, and even though Jack had converted to Judaism [...]

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They had lived in the same apartment building for years, but they had never met. He had done odd jobs for her father, who was the superintendent, and she knew all of his aunts and uncles and many of his cousins because her grandfather lived on the same street as his grandmother. It wasn’t until [...]

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