Joe的大型连锁书店开张不久，生意兴隆；Kathleen的儿童书店受到冲击，门庭冷落：两个现实中的冤家对头却在网上聊成了朋友，并相约在咖啡馆见面。这之前，Joe比Kathleen先知道了对方的身份。于是，有趣的一幕出现了——Kathleen一边称赞着即将见面的网友，一边数落着面前的Joe——Joe Fox——Joe也只能听着，谁让他爱人家呢。

        (Someone comes into; Kathleen raises her head and looks forward.)
        Joe: Take a wild guess that's not him either. So who is he, I wonder? Certainly not I, neither the world's greatest living expert on Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, but somebody else entirely different. And will you be mean to him too?
        Kathleen: No, I will not, because the man who is coming here tonight is completely unlike you. The man who is coming here tonight is kind and funny and he's got the most wonderful sense of humor.
        Joe: But, he's not here.
        Kathleen: Well, if he's not here he has a reason because there's not a cruel or careless bone in his body. But I wouldn't expect you to understand anybody like that. You with your theme park multi-level homogenize the world mochachino land. You've deluded yourself into thinking that you're some sort of benefactor bringing books to the masses. But no one will ever remember you Joe Fox and maybe no one will remember me either, but plenty of people remember my mother and they think she was fine and they think her store was something special. You are nothing but a suit.
        Joe: That's my cue. Have a good night.

重点讲解

        有人进了咖啡馆，Kathleen马上抬头看看是不是她要等的人。Joe调侃她，这个人会是谁呢？肯定不是他，也不是还活在世上的参加过尤利乌斯和伊塞尔•罗森伯格案件的侦探专家。living表示活着的、在世的。

        末了，他还加问一句，“你不会也对他发这么大脾气（be mean to sb.）吧？”mean的原意是卑微的、不雅的，这里的意思是坏脾气的。Kathleen立刻回答说，她今晚要见的人善良（kind）、风趣（funny）、极具幽默感（sense of humor）。

        Kathleen时时刻刻都在拿那个人和眼前的Joe相比：那个人不来一定有他的理由；那个人不会像Joe一样冷酷漠然（cruel and careless）；Joe只会用他的连锁店使世界变得毫无特色的趋同（homogenize v. 使同质化，使均质化）；Joe误认为自己是把书籍带向大众的恩主（benefactor）。词组delude somebody with something(into doing something)，欺骗，使某人有错误想法。

        为了解气，Kathleen最后说，Joe只是个徒有其表的人（nothing but a suit），（suit整套的衣服）。而Joe的回答则复杂得多——郎有心、妹无意，只好无奈地见好就收——“这就是你对我的看法”（That’s my cue.）cue本来意思是提醒演员上台的提示词，引申为暗指、提示、指点，这里也可以说成“多谢指教”——显然，Joe是不满的。