The New Confessions

Personally, I have never lost that youthful capacity to feel, in its raw vital state.

One: chill everything to just above freezing point — gin, Noilly Prat, lemon, glass and shaker. Two: fill a saucer with Noilly Prat and up-end the cocktail glass in it. About half an inch of the rim should be submerged. Three: fill the shaker with ice and then add the gin. Do not shake, rotate gently a couple of times. Four: take the glass from the

This was, I now realize, the first indication of a dangerous tendency in my character: the long view, the long term, rarely attracts me. It is the here-and-now I find alluring. When I act it is because I am impelled by something irresistible within me and seldom as a result of some well-plotted strategy. This happened again and again in my life and