It by Stephen King and The Novel by James Michener: A Conversation

Years ago, a friend of mine was reading It by Stephen King while I was reading The Novel by James Michener.

My friend had never seen (or heard of) The Novel before, so he was curious.

“What are you reading?” my friend asked.

“The Novel,” I said.

“Is it any good?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t read It yet.”

“What do you think of it so far?”

“I just told you. I’ve never even started It.”

“You just told me you’ve been reading It,” he said, perplexed.

“No, I’m reading The Novel,” I said.

“That’s what I meant, The Novel,” he said. “Is it any good?”

“I don’t know. I was going to ask you if It was any good.”

My friend stopped talking to me about books. Now we just talk about the easy stuff, like religion and politics.