{"id":"01KG078AH1T9GPWPV5KHVNC5SF","cid":"bafkreiaf7wr7v7m74lkx2ly2xhrcq7ek56ze6wualdz23cvdlsxh6lh4ri","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2137,"extracted_at":"2026-01-27T17:15:17.643Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 3","source_file":"01KFYTG9MG93RTB6YAW34V48XG","start_line":2094,"text":" 2005\tthat good. About three couples, besides me, were waiting for tables, and they were all\n 2006\tshoving and standing on tiptoes to get a look at old Ernie while he played. He had a big\n 2007\tdamn mirror in front of the piano, with this big spotlight on him, so that everybody could\n 2008\twatch his face while he played. You couldn't see his fingers while he played--just his big\n 2009\told face. Big deal. I'm not too sure what the name of the song was that he was playing\n 2010\twhen I came in, but whatever it was, he was really stinking it up. He was putting all these\n 2011\tdumb, show-offy ripples in the high notes, and a lot of other very tricky stuff that gives\n\n\n 2012\tme a pain in the ass. You should've heard the crowd, though, when he was finished. You\n 2013\twould've puked. They went mad. They were exactly the same morons that laugh like\n 2014\thyenas in the movies at stuff that isn't funny. I swear to God, if I were a piano player or\n 2015\tan actor or something and all those dopes thought I was terrific, I'd hate it. I wouldn't\n 2016\teven want them to clap for me. People always clap for the wrong things. If I were a piano\n 2017\tplayer, I'd play it in the goddam closet. Anyway, when he was finished, and everybody\n 2018\twas clapping their heads off, old Ernie turned around on his stool and gave this very\n 2019\tphony, humble bow. Like as if he was a helluva humble guy, besides being a terrific\n 2020\tpiano player. It was very phony--I mean him being such a big snob and all. In a funny\n 2021\tway, though, I felt sort of sorry for him when he was finished. I don't even think he\n 2022\tknows any more when he's playing right or not. It isn't all his fault. I partly blame all\n 2023\tthose dopes that clap their heads off--they'd foul up anybody, if you gave them a chance.\n 2024\tAnyway, it made me feel depressed and lousy again, and I damn near got my coat back\n 2025\tand went back to the hotel, but it was too early and I didn't feel much like being all alone.\n 2026\tThey finally got me this stinking table, right up against a wall and behind a\n 2027\tgoddam post, where you couldn't see anything. It was one of those tiny little tables that if\n 2028\tthe people at the next table don't get up to let you by--and they never do, the bastards--\n 2029\tyou practically have to climb into your chair. I ordered a Scotch and soda, which is my\n 2030\tfavorite drink, next to frozen Daiquiris. If you were only around six years old, you could\n 2031\tget liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old\n 2032\tyou were. You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care.\n 2033\tI was surrounded by jerks. I'm not kidding. At this other tiny table, right to my\n 2034\tleft, practically on top of me, there was this funny-looking guy and this funny-looking\n 2035\tgirl. They were around my age, or maybe just a little older. It was funny. You could see\n 2036\tthey were being careful as hell not to drink up the minimum too fast. I listened to their\n 2037\tconversation for a while, because I didn't have anything else to do. He was telling her\n 2038\tabout some pro football game he'd seen that afternoon. He gave her every single goddam\n 2039\tplay in the whole game--I'm not kidding. He was the most boring guy I ever listened to.\n 2040\tAnd you could tell his date wasn't even interested in the goddam game, but she was even\n 2041\tfunnier-looking than he was, so I guess she had to listen. Real ugly girls have it tough. I\n 2042\tfeel so sorry for them sometimes. Sometimes I can't even look at them, especially if\n 2043\tthey're with some dopey guy that's telling them all about a goddam football game. On my\n 2044\tright, the conversation was even worse, though. On my right there was this very Joe\n 2045\tYale-looking guy, in a gray flannel suit and one of those flitty-looking Tattersall vests.\n 2046\tAll those Ivy League bastards look alike. My father wants me to go to Yale, or maybe","title":"Chunk 3"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG0725EFD6HYGB5WBTY79C4G","peer_label":"12","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS","peer_label":"More Classics","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"}],"ver":1,"created_at":"2026-01-27T17:15:39.170Z","ts":"2026-01-27T17:15:39.170Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}