Cocktail Talk: Death Watch
I’m back from lovely and liquid San Francisco, but still a bit woozy from the boozy (oh, the drinks at the Clock Bar, at Heaven’s Dog, and at Rickhouse, oh, trying to match drink-for-drink with international drunk of mystery Camper English), which means no long post detailing S.F. thrills and chills. That will, I promise, come later. But for now, how about gnawing on this hard-boiled quote from Death Watch, a book I scored at one of the best bookstores in the world (located in S.F.), Kayo books. Maybe the world’s only all pulp bookstore. Anyway, this was somewhat how the conversations in San Francisco went, except that it was backwards, in that I hadn’t been there in about six years.
Caine said with detached curiosity, “How long have you been with me?”
“Six years. And three months, sir.”
“I don’t suppose you’ve had a drink in all that time.”
“No sir.”
“Gaffer,” said Caine,” bring out a bottle of Three Star. You and I are going to have a drink–a big drink.”
—Death Watch, Ruth and Alexander Wilson
