WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.670 align:middle line:90%


00:00:01.670 --> 00:00:02.420 align:middle line:90%
Spring Term.

00:00:02.420 --> 00:00:09.610 align:middle line:90%


00:00:09.610 --> 00:00:10.580 align:middle line:90%
So OK.

00:00:10.580 --> 00:00:12.320 align:middle line:90%
What can I say here?

00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:14.500 align:middle line:84%
So one thing that keeps
happening in this book

00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:21.580 align:middle line:84%
is that the guy, the protagonist
keeps finding his own book

00:00:21.580 --> 00:00:25.180 align:middle line:90%
in the campus used bookstore.

00:00:25.180 --> 00:00:28.330 align:middle line:84%
And he's inscribed it
lovingly to various people,

00:00:28.330 --> 00:00:32.210 align:middle line:84%
and he keeps finding that
they've sold it back.

00:00:32.210 --> 00:00:35.620 align:middle line:84%
And so this time, he's
recently just found

00:00:35.620 --> 00:00:41.245 align:middle line:84%
that his oncologist has also
just sold his book back, Song.

00:00:41.245 --> 00:00:43.685 align:middle line:90%


00:00:43.685 --> 00:00:44.185 align:middle line:90%
"Four."

00:00:44.185 --> 00:00:47.080 align:middle line:90%


00:00:47.080 --> 00:00:49.420 align:middle line:84%
"'I'm here for my
follow-up,' I announce,

00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:52.300 align:middle line:84%
drumming my fingers
on the counter.

00:00:52.300 --> 00:00:55.890 align:middle line:90%
'I have an appointment.'

00:00:55.890 --> 00:00:59.640 align:middle line:84%
Since my last visit, some
campus wag with a Sharpie

00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:06.630 align:middle line:84%
has doctored the C on the
oncology wall plaque into a T.

00:01:06.630 --> 00:01:09.930 align:middle line:84%
Water drips from the ceiling,
and forms a Stygian pool

00:01:09.930 --> 00:01:12.270 align:middle line:90%
at my feet.

00:01:12.270 --> 00:01:16.120 align:middle line:84%
The waiting area has
seen better days.

00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:19.300 align:middle line:90%
So have the patients.

00:01:19.300 --> 00:01:22.840 align:middle line:84%
'I'm sorry,' says the
receptionist blinking.

00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.360 align:middle line:90%
'The doctor can't see you.'

00:01:26.360 --> 00:01:30.740 align:middle line:84%
This isn't the first time I've
had to reschedule with Song.

00:01:30.740 --> 00:01:35.270 align:middle line:84%
Fumbling for my planner, I
scowl at the receptionist.

00:01:35.270 --> 00:01:40.820 align:middle line:84%
Maybe it's just deja vu, but
she looks strangely familiar.

00:01:40.820 --> 00:01:44.780 align:middle line:84%
'Hold on,' I say digging
around in my satchel.

00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:48.410 align:middle line:84%
'Weren't you in Disorienting
Asian-American Poetry a few

00:01:48.410 --> 00:01:49.025 align:middle line:90%
years back?'

00:01:49.025 --> 00:01:51.740 align:middle line:90%


00:01:51.740 --> 00:01:56.630 align:middle line:84%
'Actually, it was Poetics of
Erasure' she murmurs, blushing.

00:01:56.630 --> 00:01:59.690 align:middle line:90%
'I didn't think you'd remember.'

00:01:59.690 --> 00:02:04.310 align:middle line:84%
I nod sagely, though I can't
put a name to the face.

00:02:04.310 --> 00:02:06.740 align:middle line:84%
Across the room, a black
woman with red eyes

00:02:06.740 --> 00:02:09.694 align:middle line:84%
swats at her toddler with
a rolled up golf digest.

00:02:09.694 --> 00:02:12.350 align:middle line:90%


00:02:12.350 --> 00:02:14.480 align:middle line:84%
'I don't teach that
class anymore,' I say,

00:02:14.480 --> 00:02:17.040 align:middle line:90%
rubbing my chin.

00:02:17.040 --> 00:02:19.940 align:middle line:90%
'I guess I've moved on.'

00:02:19.940 --> 00:02:22.300 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:24.950 align:middle line:90%


00:02:24.950 --> 00:02:27.590 align:middle line:84%
Now and then, a
distorted voice calls out

00:02:27.590 --> 00:02:32.960 align:middle line:84%
patient names in an infernal
accent over the intercom.

00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:35.800 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:38.150 align:middle line:90%


00:02:38.150 --> 00:02:41.090 align:middle line:84%
An unshaven man in a
papery gown wheels up

00:02:41.090 --> 00:02:46.700 align:middle line:84%
beside me cradling a plastic
bag half full of urine.

00:02:46.700 --> 00:02:49.850 align:middle line:84%
I'm a hopeless
optimist I suppose.

00:02:49.850 --> 00:02:52.835 align:middle line:84%
For all I know, he may
see the bag as half empty.

00:02:52.835 --> 00:02:56.640 align:middle line:90%


00:02:56.640 --> 00:02:59.330 align:middle line:84%
'So what times do
you have open?'

00:02:59.330 --> 00:03:02.390 align:middle line:90%
I ask consulting my planner.

00:03:02.390 --> 00:03:06.260 align:middle line:84%
I've got a score to
settle with Song.

00:03:06.260 --> 00:03:09.800 align:middle line:84%
Discuss long term
prognosis my planner reads.

00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:11.420 align:middle line:84%
Then a little pop
quiz on the book.

00:03:11.420 --> 00:03:14.750 align:middle line:90%


00:03:14.750 --> 00:03:17.630 align:middle line:84%
'I probably shouldn't be telling
you this,' my former pupil

00:03:17.630 --> 00:03:20.240 align:middle line:90%
intones sotto voce.

00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:24.830 align:middle line:84%
Arching an eyebrow, she
leans over the counter.

00:03:24.830 --> 00:03:27.560 align:middle line:90%
'Song's dead.

00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:29.860 align:middle line:90%
Sorry?

00:03:29.860 --> 00:03:32.890 align:middle line:90%
Suicide, I hear.'

00:03:32.890 --> 00:03:36.580 align:middle line:84%
'Oh,' I say bracing
myself on the counter.

00:03:36.580 --> 00:03:43.890 align:middle line:84%
'I see.' An excess of molecular
dust floods my system.

00:03:43.890 --> 00:03:47.460 align:middle line:84%
I feel like an inkblot reborn
as an auto decapitated death God

00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:51.030 align:middle line:90%
on the planet after this one.

00:03:51.030 --> 00:03:54.960 align:middle line:84%
For reasons beyond
me, I bow deeply.

00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:57.780 align:middle line:90%
'But I don't understand.'

00:03:57.780 --> 00:03:59.940 align:middle line:90%
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

00:03:59.940 --> 00:04:04.050 align:middle line:90%


00:04:04.050 --> 00:04:08.640 align:middle line:84%
'I've already said too much,'
whispers my former pupil,

00:04:08.640 --> 00:04:12.780 align:middle line:84%
whose name will
forever escape me.

00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:16.050 align:middle line:84%
'May I schedule an appointment
with another physician?'

00:04:16.050 --> 00:04:19.890 align:middle line:84%
My informant resumes an
administrative demeanor.

00:04:19.890 --> 00:04:24.220 align:middle line:84%
She frowns at something on
the other side of the screen.

00:04:24.220 --> 00:04:25.650 align:middle line:90%
'Let's see.

00:04:25.650 --> 00:04:28.200 align:middle line:84%
I might be able to squeeze you
in for a quickie with Doctor

00:04:28.200 --> 00:04:29.450 align:middle line:90%
Who.'"

00:04:29.450 --> 00:04:30.000 align:middle line:90%