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their virginity. His friends were all successful, and, despite their condoms, they took away infections to prove it. Because of his appearance, Max was turned down by the prostitutes, and he was happy that he’d been rejected.
    Max slept well in the house of the widow of Segovia and had pleasant dreams, except for one night when he drank far too much cognac following a baseball game. After two years of a losing streak and aided by Max’s prowess, his Spanish team won a game against their archrivals. Every member of the ten-man team insisted on buying a round of cognac for the entire team, leading to ten cognacs each in the space of two hours.
    That night Max dreamed he was fighting a stream of fire-breathing, green dragons. He had a sword, and he was able to kill each dragon as it approached him, but there was an inexhaustible stream of the creatures.
    After killing what seemed like hundreds—if not thousands—of dragons, Max looked to the sky and saw a godlike presence, which bellowed at him.
    â€œDo you want to stop fighting the dragons ? ” it asked.
    â€œYes. It’s tiring, and I’m somewhat exhausted already,” Max admitted.
    â€œWell, you can just stop whenever you want.”
    â€œBut if I stop, the dragons will just keep coming and destroy the world.”
    â€œYour thinking is correct,” the godlike presence acknowledged, speaking in Spanish. “But you will never be able to defeat all the dragons. They are infinite in number.
    â€œAre you sure you want to continue ? ” it asked.
    Max just shrugged and returned to killing dragons.
    Then he woke up.
    Max had been told that he would know that he was proficient in Spanish when his dreams would be in Spanish, too. Since Max never remembered his dreams, this was an unusual and pleasant experience.
    It also signaled that he had achieved his primary goal of learning Spanish before heading back to conquer whatever dragons might await him as he prepared to complete his education and ready himself for college and adult life.



Chapter Four
    â€œUnderstanding Understanding”
    1968
    M AX ATTENDED PHILLIPS ANDOVER ACADEMY FOR HIS SENIOR year, and he achieved but did not stand out—particularly in terms of his extracurricular activities. Instead he focused on his studies, college applications, and learning about sex and love.
    He had little difficulty getting into any college he chose, and after receiving a number of acceptance letters, he decided to attend Yale.
    Meanwhile, Max developed a sweet and wordless relationship with fifteen-year-old Lizzie, whom he met at a dance at an exclusive country club in Sleepy Hollow. Max danced with many of the vivacious and brightly dressed young girls that evening, but Lizzie was different. When he asked her what her favorite book was, she said Candy—a rather outrageous, almost pornographic novel that was on bestseller lists at the time.
    Max was intrigued that such a young girl would be so bold with him and found himself attracted to her mystical eyes, gentle, feminine body, and alluring smile. Before the evening was done, he decided to pursue her.
    She lived within walking distance of Max’s home but since he was away at Andover most of the time, their meetings were restricted to school vacations. Nonetheless, the romance bloomed.
    They would take long walks or go to Max’s bedroom, which was above the garage, boasted a separate entrance, and offered complete privacy.
    He considered their relationship “wordless,” because he and Lizzie rarely spoke when they were alone. They would kiss and stare into each other’s eyes for up to five hours at a time. But they were both virgins and neither of them was quite ready to explore too quickly the next level of intimacy.
    This long-distance courtship lasted Max’s entire senior year at Andover. Then the summer before Max went to Yale, the two of them enjoyed a weekend visit to New York City, staying in his