““What are you reading?’ he asks this afternoon. ‘Kafka’s Metamorphosis,’ George says, without looking up. ‘And what’s it about?’ ‘Guy turns into a giant bug and eventually dies.’ ‘Not exactly life-affirming,’ Martin observes. ‘Life isn’t exactly life-affirming,’ George says. ‘How have you been able to read so many books?’ he asks, and she looks up from Kafka, her thumb marking the page. ‘I’m a weird girl in high school. I’ve had some time to kill.””