-
Many of the digger machines were out of order in the penny arcades and
-
could not be repaired or replaced for the duration.
-
Moreover, the prizes, made now in U.S.A?
-
It goes off in this strange digression.
-
It seems like his mind has simply wandered, as it does,
-
from one version of the story to another.
-
But the mention of the machines is not incidental.
-
Narrative becomes a kind of machine.
-
You put your penny in the slot and it works to produce the narrative.
-
And that's that first part that I read, where he's looking back fondly
-
with Magda from his eminence, later in life,
-
and it seems safely past and something that can be talked about.