WAITING FOR MARGOT

Philosophers are those who delight in speaking true statements. See what famous philosophers have to say about Waiting for Margot:

"Passes the Bechdel Test." --Aristotle

"Has a lot of heart." --George Berkeley

"A distraction worthy of almost the worst migraines." --Friedrich Nietzsche

"Appearances do not deceive: if you think this is worth checking out, it is." -- Simone de Beauvoir

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That's the promotional material I wrote closer to when I first wrote Waiting for Margot.

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Waiting for Margot is about friendship, longing, the desert, meaning, and the truth.

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(Print version available here.)

List of episodes:

Introduction

01 "Pilot" -- You (Beth) meet someone named Julia whom you may or may not already know, at your favorite cafe, Mitzi's. Your friend Brian appears and reveals that he is waiting for Margot.

Act I

02 "Jackson" -- Julia is on a first date with Jackson. Meaning and human happiness react -- chemistry. A different element cuts in.

03 "Robert" -- You (Beth) spend the day with Robert, your ex, running away from Death the Inevitable at Anderson Reservoir.

04 "Brian" -- A regular rainy day at the cafe, until something happens on earth...

05 "Angela" -- You go to ride a bus to nowhere, and happen to meet someone on her own journey...

Act II

06 "Camping" -- The three of you go camping in the dry, beautiful mountains.

07 "Returning" -- The three of you return from camping in the camp shuttle, talking to strangers as you go.

08 "Shopping" -- The three of you deal with apathy and then you and Julia go shopping at a thrift store.

09 "Selling" -- A chance encounter with an ex-philosopher drives you and Brian to consider the meaning of "realistic".

Act III

10 "Monopoly" -- A board game draws out a board game-loving stranger, from the land of church.

11 "Chutes and Ladders" -- A weird day leads to the playing of a board game, and a discussion among friends.

12 "Patience" -- Discussions of patience and the playing of a card game named, or misnamed, "patience".

13 "Breaking the Devil's Backbone" -- A board game summons a woman from Nashville, who dreams of making a cafe to invite in a "consuming fire".

Act IV

14 "Alte Stadt" -- You (Beth) go with Brian and Julia to Alte Stadt, the site of the original Hoheres Wesen.

15 "catholic tastes" -- You all meet Brian's friends at an establishment in a faraway part of Hoheres Wesen, and experience... transformation?

Act V

16 "Inner Conflict" -- You (Beth) are trying to decide whether to volunteer as a writing tutor for Angela's non-profit.

17 "Jitters" -- Jitters, nervousness, and weird thoughts afflict the three friends, until someone from Julia's past and present arrives...

18 "Complaint" -- You (Beth) meet a random young stranger at Mitzi's and impart wisdom.

19 "Giving Up" -- Brian feels like giving up on his writing project but you (Beth) push back.

20 "Giving Up, Part 2" -- You (Beth) invite your friends to your apartment to eat dinner.

Conclusion

21 "Farewell" -- A farewell occurs, and then a goodbye.

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The comments were added some time after the episodes were written.

This book is what it is.

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Waiting for Margot is © 2023 by James Banks, licensed under a Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International. For full terms of license, see creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

For commercial uses, email for permission.

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