Myra-Breckinridge-Gore-Vidal

forearms, coiling about the thick biceps, vanishing finally inthe deep armpits. What would Myron have thought of him?Probably not much. Myron preferred the sinister andvicious, the totally abandoned. Rusty is not only notabandoned, he would not have been available, even toMyron whose technique as a seducer was highlydeveloped. Yet where Myron would have failed I shallsucceed. The fact that Rusty has not an inkling of my plansmakes every moment we spend together in Mary-Ann'scompany exquisite. Also, the deliberate (on my part)manipulation of the conversation was curiously thrilling,affording me an opportunity to observe how somethingentirely alien behaves in its native habitat: the neverfulfilleddesire of the dedicated anthropologist who realizes that themoment he arrives in a village to study its culture, thatculture has already been subtly altered by the simple fact ofhis presence; just as the earthly microbes our astronautsare certain to let loose upon other worlds are sure to kill orchange those extraterrestrial forms of life we would mostlike to preserve in order to understand. But then it is ourpeculiar fate to destroy or change all things we touch since(and let us never forget it) we are the constant andcompulsive killers of life, the mad dogs of creation, and ourtriumphant viral progress can only end in a burst ofcleansing solar fire, either simulated by us or thrust upon usby the self-protective mechanism of a creation that cannotfor long endure too many violent antibodies within itsharmonious system. Death and destruction, hate and rage,these are the most characteristic of human attributes, as