Manning is very, very good at telling stories that feel bad wrapped in stories that sound good, stories that seduce the reader just as they seduce the self who’s tired of feeling guilty all the time, thanks.

It didn’t look like Cher. Cher’s tall and gorgeous and curvy and all of that. This girl was really petite. She looked like a little Jewish girl. I go over there and we’re talking. We’re making out and dancing and she says, “Do you know who I am?”

I said, “I don’t really care; we’re making out.”