The fur coat she was wearing hung as heavy as a child on her shoulders, and she looked stunned, arrived somehow by taxi, livery cab? Fleeced? Mrs. DePour’s large alligator bag was open.

Christine Schutt (CS): She was no taller than a small door. Her hair was entirely one color, no other shades. She was efficient in all the domestic arts, but all she could say in English at this point was: “Glad to meet you,” “Too bad about the weather,” and “No one does it better than a slam dunker”—whatever that meant. She knew no other words of English. All to the better, thought Milo.

Mrs. White at the Red Shop showed me the beady-eyed garment, but I can’t pay for it. I’m broke! I already own a gold ring and a gold-filled wristwatch and I am very uncomfortable with these. My eyes sweep the garment and its charms.