Sublime

and a semi-insane African grey parrot for a pet who uttered Swine at intervals, and who otherwise spoke only in profanities.

Danny had a parrot named Fucker. And besides dealers and hookers, Danny only had two visitors to his house—his mother and his parole officer. The parrot didn’t have many words or sentences to blurt out, because neither did Danny. So his parole officer would drop in, or his mother might bring him a casserole, and Fucker would say one of two things:

Donald Barthelme’s story ‘Sentence’, itself a 2,000-word sentence, ends with an affirmation of this infinitely supple power:

“We accidentally ate weed,”

Rascality was prized even above gluttony. Often, without warning the boat captain, the gang would yell, “Swim break!” and get naked and jump into the ocean, never letting go of their beer cans as they bobbed in the water. Members brought along guns and slung stuffed animals into the air for target practice. When a black-tie party boat passed, the