![THE PARTICLES OF ORDER THE PARTICLES OF ORDER](https://cdn.magzter.com/1422886351/1724601084/articles/jqEYoMQVE1724670145390/THE-PARTICLES-OF-ORDER.jpg)
Ursula, having arranged the welcome platter, waited until she heard a car slowing down in the driveway, its gravel rinsed all day by the rain, before drizzling some honey in broad strokes on the cheese and the nuts. From the kitchen window, she could see the cabdriver—Timothy today— place a suitcase next to the door, heavy, as demonstrated by his eloquent grimace. Likely he had entertained his fare with one of his two Americarelated stories: the cousin who’d done life in Sing Sing or the great-granduncle escaping Alcatraz on a stormy night. Visitors from America were rare, or else Timothy would have invented more credible family legends.
The woman, Lilian Pang, smiled tiredly as she got out of the car and thanked Timothy. She was between forty-five and fifty-five, Ursula estimated, a time when some people’s lives come into order while others’ fall out of it. It was mid-January, not the best season for anyone to holiday in the Devon countryside, particularly alone. A reservation of two weeks was long; guests usually stayed for a few days at most. Ursula had not dwelled too much on this, but she had noticed the facts. And now, assessing the guest through the window, she did not think there were any red flags. People who have taken the trouble to travel seek something they cannot find at home. Ursula’s job was to provide the possibility, not the certainty, of success.
By the time Timothy drove away, Ursula had cut the pear and arranged the slices in the small bowl, which sat just off the center of the plate. No two guests would see the same composition, but this was a minor achievement, known only to Ursula: a stilllife that did not last.
Denne historien er fra September 02, 2024-utgaven av The New Yorker.
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Denne historien er fra September 02, 2024-utgaven av The New Yorker.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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![SUBJECT AND OBJECT SUBJECT AND OBJECT](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1989915/to6VeZYHB1739191198720/SUBJECT-AND-OBJECT.jpg)
SUBJECT AND OBJECT
What happened when Lillian Ross profiled Ernest Hemingway.
![ROYAL FLUSH ROYAL FLUSH](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1989915/UI6Ma0OcX1739191861348/ROYAL-FLUSH.jpg)
ROYAL FLUSH
The fall of red.
![Roz Chast on George Booth's Cartoons Roz Chast on George Booth's Cartoons](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1989915/pzN_cTFgE1739190398786/ROZ-CHAST-ON-GEORGE-BOOTHS-CARTOONS.jpg)
Roz Chast on George Booth's Cartoons
There's almost nothing I like more than a laughing fit. It is a non-brain response, like an orgasm or a sneeze.
![CHUKA CHUKA](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1989915/ipIKlzJlU1739190624506/CHUKA.jpg)
CHUKA
I have always longed to be known, truly known, by another human being. Sometimes we live for years with yearnings that we cannot name.
![Rachel Aviv on Janet Malcolm's "Trouble in the Archives" Rachel Aviv on Janet Malcolm's "Trouble in the Archives"](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1989915/kA0ClSAKX1739187641551/RACHEL-AVIV-ON-JANET-MALCOLMS-TROUBLE-IN-THE-ARCHIVES.jpg)
Rachel Aviv on Janet Malcolm's "Trouble in the Archives"
As Janet Malcolm worked on \"Trouble in the Archives,\" a two-part piece about prominent psychoanalysts who disagreed about Freud, she began a correspondence with Kurt Eissler, the head of the Sigmund Freud Archives.
![PERSONAL HISTORY - A VISIT TO MADAM BEDI PERSONAL HISTORY - A VISIT TO MADAM BEDI](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1989915/2oD61HcWT1739188467373/PERSONAL-HISTORY-A-VISIT-TO-MADAM-BEDI.jpg)
PERSONAL HISTORY - A VISIT TO MADAM BEDI
I was estranged from my own mother, so a friend tried to lend me his.
![AMERICAN CHRONICLES - WAR OF WORDS AMERICAN CHRONICLES - WAR OF WORDS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1989915/e3IBpWw0l1739185964212/AMERICAN-CHRONICLES-WAR-OF-WORDS.jpg)
AMERICAN CHRONICLES - WAR OF WORDS
Editors, writers, and the making of a magazine.
![LIVE FROM NEW YORK LIVE FROM NEW YORK](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1989915/1Xcl8aksl1739192099780/LIVE-FROM-NEW-YORK.jpg)
LIVE FROM NEW YORK
A new docuseries commemorates fifty years of \"Saturday Night Live.\"
![TANGLED WEB TANGLED WEB](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1989915/nkepf4WtQ1739191552715/TANGLED-WEB.jpg)
TANGLED WEB
An arachnophobe pays homage to the spider.
![TROUBLE IN PARADISE TROUBLE IN PARADISE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1989915/ZS1PsgMcC1739187790416/TROUBLE-IN-PARADISE.jpg)
TROUBLE IN PARADISE
Mike White's mischievous morality plays.