[John] Macy did not mention that the zippy, educational program for kids could not have been less like the slow-moving documentary for adults.

If the '60s were over in 1972, the ’70s were in trouble by 1977. Don't get me wrong — the Eagles and Foreigner and Earth, Wind & Fire are, er, survivors. Good or bad they're careerists, they jog two miles a day, and they're all destined to outlast the Ramones.

The conventional types get concerned when your hair starts inching over your collar and over your ears, and they spy you reading Blake's poetry over a beansprout sandwich during lunch.

He saw Mr. Lim from Penang, Anglicanly elegant, climbing into the Hillman that the firm used on this side of the peninsula, a Malay driver closing the door smartly after him.