Third, and it's going down a point a go.

2004, 2012, now. Nine, then eight, now seven, and I can be fairly specific about where the points went.

The road material is still the best of it. The House on the Rock. The roadside attractions, and the idea that America is bad ground for gods. Nobody else was writing that in 2001 and it's why the book mattered.

But the plot is a con trick with two twists in it, and once you know both, the middle turns into waiting. Shadow is a hole in the shape of a man. That worked for me twice, as a device. This time I wanted him to want something.

The interlude chapters, Coming to America, are better than the novel around them. I would read a collection of only those.

Also: I'd had Laura down as far more of a presence than she is. I had her in a dozen scenes. It's about five.

Seven. Ask me in 2032 and it might be a six, at which point I'll stop.