Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The people who use cocaine are right next to you. The police officer who is about to pull you over has been snorting for years, and everyone knows it.

#2 I was asked to write about a speech that had been recorded on an iPhone at a meeting. The police wanted to know if the story went the way the young man said it had, or if it had been staged.

#3 The police officer told me that the young man, his informant, had heard the only valuable lesson - how to be in the world - and had recorded it on the sly. If I wrote about it and nobody did anything, it would prove that the young man was telling the truth.

#4 The police officer read me the transcript he'd made. They'd met in a room not far from where we were, randomly seated, not in a horseshoe like they do at ritual initiations. The old Italian began speaking without even introducing himself.