There is a general, good-natured grumbling about religious laws and how time flies and how early midnight sometimes feels. And the party continues somewhere else. Stories are not explanations of the world we live in. Tim O'Brien is alone on the stage, austere, staring out at an audience full of people. They are gathered in an SWT auditorium for O'Brien's speech, one of three he has given this year as part of his Mitte Chair responsibilities.
Science does that, and math does that.
Our obligation as fiction writers is to enhance the mysteries. As long as he continues to hone his craft, Tim O'Brien will keep us guessing. There are no answers in a Tim O'Brien story. No morals either. There are, more likely, frayed ends and questions that tumble into more questions.