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ollywood in 1962, “Attaining success inHollywood is like climbing a gigantic mountain of cow flop, in order to pluck one perfect rose from thesummit. His chocolate face with its keen eyes and wide, white mouthful of teeth stared back at him. Quilla June found a can of kerosene in a storeroom, and we set fire to the whole damn pile. 674 THE ESSENTIAL ELLISON

When the first FBI special agent reached the van, the old man was lyingthere mumbling, “ They shot me in the head. What was it? Three out of every thousand came back? Hehad no illusions. Roblee’s face looked like something sold across a meat counter. The wall pulsed up light and the humming got louder, and the deckplate I was standing on dilatedjust the way the outside port had done.