But all is written in a way that the sentences need to be read to appreciate the telling of the story, with words that matter. This is a writer who hasn't forgotten what his last chapter and what he wrote there; he offers an interplay of words and witticisms that enhance the reading.

I marked quite a few passages for later note, to illustrate the power of words, and the skill in which Mazzotta so precisely places them in his tale.

In a chapter about the vacuous yet mysterious and integral John T. Bayer:

"The despicable pile of waste [the Decrepitude] actually thought greatness came from words. Describe yourself as great and wise and it becomes fact.

His hatred spread to cover the universe itself; the relative universe that allowed his words to be reality, that allowed him to be rewarded for his falseness. Words. Well, Jake knew words, too. He was a writer, goddamnit. He knew words were not reality, no matter how firmly you deluded yourself into thinking so."

And:

" "Michael never exhibited a desire to be castrated," Jake chose not to say. She was a kind, sweet woman. She didn't deserve to be subjected to his venom. It was moments like this when Jake was cowed by his own hostility."

And, from the Decrepitude:

"... I believe they are betting what donut I will eat in the morning. Oh, they hide it well, but I'm not entirely deaf. Especially when it comes to snippets of conversation that contain the words 'jelly' or 'cream-puff.'"

You can see the speeding train crash coming even before the final pages. But after the bumpy ride and near derailment, you welcome the crash as a validation for your own expectations of these characters, and the story in which they play.

And, if the book says nothing else, it's that we're all after validation. We all just chose different ways to get it.

Temple's epilogue: After stowing this book away for a bit, is it any kind of strange that when I find it again, there's August R. Carlino's business card between pages 168/169. He's president and CEO of the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation, and I must have met him, but he is faceless to me now.