the last book I ever read (Denis Johnson's Seek: Reports from the Edges of America & Beyond, excerpt four)

from Seek: Reports from the Edges of America & Beyond by Denis Johnson:

The elevators are stopped, but we have electricity four hours a day, also a few minutes of hot water in the morning or afternoon. The waiters in the restaurant are very much that—people who wait, hardly moving, and having almost nothing to say to each other—until I appear to ask what’s available today. Eggs, bread, lamb. Green or black tea or bottled water. There’s never anything else. I always tip them ten thousand of their money. I never eat in my room. I take each meal in the restaurant while they stand and wait. I don’t think they mind. It seems to give them pleasure serving as my silent hosts. Among the Afghans, it’s said, the two most important aspects of living are hospitality and revenge.