Not nearly as smart as it thinks it is

His tone is both apologetic and defensive. Molly continues to stare at him, amazed. She sees again in her mind's eye that other Jonathan as as he'd materialised on the street - sees again the way he merely glanced at her, unseeing, uninterested, as he passed her by. As if they didn't know each other and were not lovers and of course they didn't know each other, were not lovers...Molly recalls speaking his name as if it were a magic talisman that might make things right: Jonathan. But the man's name was James.

• Joyce Carol Oates; Lives o... read the rest.