L'Esprit de L'Escalier

Valente is so clever with lines like: ‘Prometheus flicks a lighter for Apollo's wobbly cig.'
Sisyphus with his marble.
And has such lovely prose throughout. Loved the premise. Fun combing of past and modern times, reminded me of Lore Olympus.


What I want to take away from it:“But did you ever ask her?”“Ask her what?”“If she wanted to come back.”“Why the hell would I ask her? Nobody wants to be dead. I did the right thing. For us. For her. You were there. It was heroic. I was selfless. I was strong.”“Were you? Or could you just . . . not accept that something pretty was taken from you? Did you know her? Or was she hot and rich and uncomplicated?”And“I see my love for you as though it hangs in a museum,” Eurydice says slowly. “Under glass. Environmentally controlled. It is a part of history. But I am not allowed to touch it. I am not allowed to add anything new to it. I am not even allowed to get close.” She puts a golden star into place without looking up. “Why didn't you turn around?” Eurydice whispers.Orpheus tells the truth. “I knew you were there, baby. I never doubted it for a minute.”Children yell and play in the neighbors' gardens, high-pitched giggles fizzing up into the streetlights. “You didn't know. You assumed I was there. Behind you. Like I'd always been there. Behind you. You couldn't even imagine that I might not do as I was told, that I might not be where you wanted me to be, the moment you wanted it. That was my place, and you assumed I would be in it. What in your life has ever gone any way other than as you wished it?” She glances toward the house, toward the demo still sitting where Sisyphus left it. “And now you have what you want from me. What you always wanted. I am no longer necessary. And yet. I am still here.”Such a good way to sum it up