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318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 26, 2023
But there is something shameful about it, isn't there? I mean, the purpose of the euphemism is to shield the speaker from the difficulty of the subject. We say passed away instead of died, and put out to pasture instead of just admitting an elder was unceremoniously removed from gainful employment because a younger, cheaper hire applied for their job. You may pretend that these circumlocutions are for the benefit of the victim, but they're not. They are for the comfort of the speaker. We call them 'ascendant class' because it makes their suffering feel less shameful for those of us who refuse to address the role we play in perpetuating poverty to the enrichment of ourselves. I say, let's call them the poor, and help them.
"The Hexologists--hunters of wraiths, slayers of bugbears, champions of the common pleb, determined sleuths in search of the truth--at least when the truth pays the fare."
"People who tell you not to be afraid of things are usually the first to get eaten by tigers. Fear helps us prepare. I say, gather your supplies, arm yourself, and make the dark afraid of you."
It was bedlam, a hedonistic riot, or as Victor described it, “the usual whoop-de-do.”
“That is a Hex of Woe. Its bearer will suffer from insomnia, vertigo, tremors, impotence, styes, tinnitus, and galloping flatulence.”
He soothed her with walks and theater tickets and outings to bookshops, museums, and restaurants where he confounded the staff by pouring entire boats of gravy into a tattered carpetbag that vented fire like a steak flambé.