Arnon Grunberg

Ready

Months

Dinner at a friend’s house.
Another friend said: “I now do translations over the phone. So, I had this Italian patient somewhere in San Diego on the phone. The doctor had told me that he was dying, and the patient insisted that was not ready. We spoke regularly over the phone and after two months he said: ‘I’m ready.’ ‘You’re ready?’ I asked. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I’m ready.’ ‘But why?’ I asked. ‘The food,’ he answered, ‘it’s horrible.’ And indeed, shortly after that he passed away.
“Hospital food is rather terrible,” I said and I helped myself with the delicious fruit salad.

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