AMORALMAN: A True Story and Other Lies

“the king of gamblers,” Nick the Greek.

At his funeral, an old-timer in attendance remarked that it was the most impressive gathering of charlatans and swindlers since the death of Titanic Thompson.

He replied, “They’ll never know the difference.”

“You know what I always saw you doing someday?” “What’s that?” “Writing.”

You can learn a lot about yourself when you pretend to be someone else. Being Cody allowed me to participate in the world and yet still remain separate from it. I could hide behind his eyes and have interactions that weren’t distorted by my own knowledge, my own insecurities, my own fears. In many ways, Cody’s interactions were more honest and auth

(Apparently you’re not an underground legend until you have “the” in your name.)

Every time he told me he was proud of me. It was all fiction. And I believed it. Because I wanted to. Leo recognized that. He knew exactly what story I was telling myself. And he knew long before I did.

Leo helped me build confidence, and he encouraged me. It seemed like, for the first time, I might have found a mentor who aligned with my ambitions. I felt there was much I could learn from Leo. And with his guidance, who knows how far I could go.

“I hope you found what you were looking for.”