Good to Be God Read Online Free PDF

of it is that I’m well prepared for the end of the world. Should our civilization perish, law and order expire, my first act would be to get an iron bar and laughingly beat some bankers to death, and if they’re reasonably young 25

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    and juicy, eat them, even raw if I could still get the right seasoning. I’d also be hunting for Hollis and our accountants.
    Loader too.
    “What about Tibetan divination techniques?” asks the beard-puller, as questions are invited from the audience.
    The Lama smiles. He’s been here before. He answers with a smile, although I suspect he has little time for the fairground side of Tibetan culture.
    “Let me tell you the story of the bear and the weasel’s shoulder blades,” he says. He elaborates about the dough ball and the butter lamp, while I admire the fine cotton of his pale-blue shirt.
    Is it some ancient Tibetan shirt? It’s certainly expensive.
    “And if you’re setting out on a journey,” continues the Lama,
    “and you see a funeral procession, that’s a bad omen.” Is he having a laugh? Finally you never know. A car pulls up, the driver leans out and says to you: “This is your lucky day.” He’s selling some leather jackets or a hi-fi. You know the goods are murky, but you actually do want a leather jacket or a hi-fi, and the question still remains: is this your lucky day or not? Who will get the best deal? Will you have a hi-fi that self-incinerates in a week or a bargain? And deep in our innards, we reckon we’re owed a lucky day or two. We’re waiting to hear some good news, and if you’re not listening how will you hear?
    “What about the Chinese invasion of Tibet?” asks the beard-puller. He fancies himself as a bushwhacker; he’s been waiting forty minutes for this. “How come your divination tricks didn’t see one billion Chinese coming?” He twitches exponentially in satisfaction.
    The Lama smiles. “Our divination tricks did see the Chinese coming. They foresaw it with perfect clarity, far in advance.
    But when one billion Chinese invade your country, predicting it 26

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    doesn’t help you much.” The Lama smiles, but some darkness resides behind it. I can imagine him catching the beard-puller in the car park later on and giving him a thorough Ancient Tibetan kicking.
    Books and DVDs are on sale. I have to say I like the Lama.
    He’s a salesman and he shields the nothing well. Also for all the celestiality of his talk, he’s a lad. He’s a fan of clapping loins. In the Lama’s hotel room, the jacuzzi is bubbling, the champagne is chilling, the sports channel is on, and the Ancient Tibetan art of muff-diving is practised.
    On my way out, he catches my eye. He nods.
    I know now where I’ve seen the Lama before: in my future.
    G
    I review the unfortunate facts that are called my life.
    Most people don’t understand how easy it is to lose everything.
    This isn’t a criticism, I envy them. Luck. Everything’s luck. You can’t cross the road without it. You can’t get out of bed without it, and if you disagree, just wait. Everything’s luck, and if your luck is bad, there’s nothing you can do about it.
    Nevertheless, self-pity must be the most pointless of the vices.
    To begin with, at least, most vices are fun, but self-pity does you no good at all, and isn’t, as far as I’m concerned, even enjoyable.
    On the other hand if you don’t feel sorry for yourself, who else will?
    I’m sitting in Silver Sushi, waiting for my luck to change, eating sushi. Silver Sushi on Washington Avenue is my favourite sushi place in Miami. It’s the only sushi place I’ve been to in Miami, it’s the first time I’ve eaten here, but I’ve nominated it as my favourite place, because when you live in Miami you have 27

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    to have a favourite sushi place, and I now live in Miami. They have cool art books lying around that you can flick through while your fish is readied; it’s a small, cheap touch, but it makes