Walk through wals Flashcards
1
Q
drabness
A
// Perpetual shortages of everything, drabness everywhere. There is something about Communism and socialism—it’s a kind of aesthetic based on pure ugliness.
: lacking stylishness or elegance
2
Q
endure
A
// My family didn't have to endure all this. // it seemed impossible that anyone could endure such pain // these cities have endured through time
: suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently
: remain in existence; last
3
Q
peasants
A
// And when he saw how beautiful she was, he carried her to safety in a nearby village, where the peasants nursed her back to health.
: a poor smallholder or agricultural labourer of low social status (chiefly in historical use or with reference to subsistence farming in poorer countries)
: [informal] an ignorant, rude, or unsophisticated person
4
Q
frankincense
/ˈfraŋkɪnsɛns/
A
// Her house was always filled with the smell of frankincense and freshly roasted coffee.
: an aromatic gum resin obtained from an African tree and burnt as incense; ладан
5
Q
seizure
/ˈsiːʒə/
A
// Worse still, my brother soon developed some form of childhood epilepsy—he would have these seizures, and everyone hovered around him, giving him even more attention.
// the seizure of the Assembly building
: the action of capturing someone or something using force
: a sudden attack of illness, especially a stroke or an epileptic fit
6
Q
hover (around)
A
// Worse still, my brother soon developed some form of childhood epilepsy—he would have these seizures, and everyone hovered around him, giving him even more attention.
// Army helicopters hovered overhead // she hovered anxiously in the background
: remain in one place in the air
: linger close at hand, especially in a hesitant or uncertain manner
7
Q
infraction
A
// I was punished, of course. I was punished frequently, for the slightest infraction, and the punishments were almost always physical—hitting and slapping.
: a violation of a law or agreement
8
Q
guerilla
/ɡəˈrɪlə/
A
// His youngest brother had been captured by the Nazis and tortured to death. And my father’s guerilla squad captured the soldier who had killed his brother and brought him to my father.
// this town fell to the guerrillas // guerrilla gigs
: a member of a small independent group taking part in irregular fighting, typically against larger regular forces
: referring to actions or activities performed in an impromptu way, often without authorization
9
Q
muss up
/mʌs/
A
// She would wake me in the middle of the night if she thought I was sleeping messily, mussing up the sheets.
// the wind was mussing up his hair // no fuss, no muss—nothing left behind except a few little specks of dust
: make (someone’s hair or clothes) untidy or messy
: a state of disorder; plural noun: musses
10
Q
spartan
A
// And while the rest of the flat was stuffed with stuff, paintings and books and furniture, from a very early age I kept both my rooms spartak—Spartan. As empty as possible. In my bedroom, just the bed, one chair, and a table. In my studio, just the easel and my paints.
: showing or characterized by austerity or a lack of comfort or luxury
11
Q
easel
/ˈiːz(ə)l/
A
// And while the rest of the flat was stuffed with stuff, paintings and books and furniture, from a very early age I kept both my rooms spartak—Spartan. As empty as possible. In my bedroom, just the bed, one chair, and a table. In my studio, just the easel and my paints.
: a wooden frame for holding an artist’s work while it is being painted or drawn
12
Q
overpowering
A
// Now they were just sitting there, barely able to speak—their writing had taken them so far that when they actually found themselves in each other’s presence, the emotions were overpowering.
// he overpowered the two men and frogmarched them to the police station // they were overpowered by the fumes
overpower
: defeat or overcome with superior strength
: be too intense for; overwhelm
13
Q
mesmerized
A
// One morning I was home from school for the day, and I just sat in the bathroom staring at this fascinating new machine doing its job, agitating the clothes with a monotonous sound—DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN. I was mesmerized.
// they were mesmerized by his story
: capture the complete attention of (someone); transfix
14
Q
wringer
/ˈrɪŋə/
A
// The machine had an automatic wringer and two rubber rollers that turned slowly in opposite directions while the laundry churned in the washer’s tub.
// he has no papers so they put him through the wringer
: a device such as a mangle for wringing water from wet clothes, mops, or other objects
• put someone through the wringer – subject someone to a very stressful experience
15
Q
churn
A
// The machine had an automatic wringer and two rubber rollers that turned slowly in opposite directions while the laundry churned in the washer’s tub.
// the women were churning butter and making cheese // the seas churned // her stomach was churning at the thought of the ordeal
: a machine for making butter by shaking milk or cream
: [British] a large metal container for milk
: shake (milk or cream) in a machine in order to produce butter
: (with reference to liquid) move or cause to move about vigorously
: break up the surface of (an area of ground)
: have an unpleasant disturbed feeling
16
Q
coiffure
/kwɑːˈfjʊə,kwɒˈfjʊə/
plural noun: coiffures
A
// I was horrified when I discovered one day that my father, who always had very elaborate hair, was using my Pioneer scarf as a bandanna to train his coiffure.
// Diana’s intricately braided coiffure
: a person’s hairstyle
17
Q
maid
A
// It was the maid, Mara, rather than my mother, who explained to me what menstruation was.
: a female domestic servant
: [archaic] an unmarried girl or young woman
18
Q
bosom
/ˈbʊz(ə)m/
A
// Mara was a kind, round woman, with a big bosom and full lips.
// her ample bosom // she had plucked the brooch from her bosom // he carried a letter in his bosom // the two girls had become bosom friends
: a woman’s chest or breasts
: a part of a dress covering the chest
: [literary] the space between a person’s clothing and their chest used for carrying things
: used to refer to the chest as the seat of emotions
: adj. (of a friend) very close or intimate
19
Q
retch
A
// I would lie in bed in agony, every once in a while running to the bathroom to vomit and shit simultaneously. The retching and shitting only made the pain worse.
// the sour taste in her mouth made her retch // he retched up a thin stream of vomit // with a sudden retch he vomited all over the floor
: make the sound and movement of vomiting
: vomit
: a movement or sound of vomiting
20
Q
hideous
A
// My nose was grown-up but my face was not. I felt hideous.
// hideous lizard-like creatures // the whole hideous story
: extremely ugly
: extremely unpleasant
21
Q
expelled
expel
A
// My grandmother’s mother came from a very rich family, and she fell in love with a servant. This was forbidden, of course, and she was expelled from the family.
// she was expelled from school // eight diplomats were expelled from Norway for espionage // she expelled a shuddering breath
: officially make (someone) leave a school or other organization
: force (someone) to leave a place
: force out (something), especially from the body
22
Q
renounce
A
// Then after the war, when the Communists took over, my mother, to show her commitment to the Party, had to renounce all her worldly goods—and all the worldly goods of her mother.
// Isabella offered to renounce her son's claim to the French Crown // these agreements were renounced after the fall of the Tsarist regime
: formally declare one’s abandonment of (a claim, right, or possession)
: refuse or resign a right or position, especially one as an heir or trustee
: refuse to continue to recognize or abide by
: reject or abandon (a cause, bad habit, or way of life)
23
Q
worldly
A
// Then after the war, when the Communists took over, my mother, to show her commitment to the Party, had to renounce all her worldly goods—and all the worldly goods of her mother.
// she was much more worldly than Nora and dismissed the slur // his ambitions for worldly success
: (of a person) experienced and sophisticated
: of or concerned with material values or ordinary life rather than a spiritual existence
• worldly goods – everything that one owns
24
Q
superstitious
A
// Like many people in our culture at that time, my grandmother was deeply superstitious.
: забобонний
25
befall
// Like many people in our culture at that time, my grandmother was deeply superstitious. She believed that if when you left your house you saw a pregnant woman or a widow, you had to immediately pull a button off one of your garments and throw it away, or bad luck would befall you.
// a tragedy befell his daughter
: (especially of something bad) happen to (someone)
26
itch
| plural noun: itches
// Many years later, when I went to Brazil to study shamanism, the shamans looked at the same kinds of signs. If your left shoulder itches, it means something. Every single part of the body is connected with different signs that allow you to understand what’s happening inside you—on a spiritual level, but also on a physical and mental level.
```
// an itch to write fiction
// the bite itched like crazy
// I itched all over
```
: an uncomfortable sensation on the skin that causes a desire to scratch
: be the site of or cause an itch
: (of a person) experience an itch
: [informal] a restless or strong desire to do something
: [informal] feel a restless or strong desire to do something
27
dawn
// In my teenage years, though, all this was just beginning to dawn on me. And my gawky body was little else to me besides a source of embarrassment.
```
// the dawn of civilization
// Thursday dawned bright and sunny
// a new age was dawning in the Tory party
// the awful truth was beginning to dawn on him
```
: he first appearance of light in the sky before sunrise
: the beginning of a phenomenon or period of time, especially one considered favourable
: (of a day) begin
: become evident to the mind; be perceived or understood
28
gawky
| /ˈɡɔːki/
// In my teenage years, though, all this was just beginning to dawn on me. And my gawky body was little else to me besides a source of embarrassment.
// a gawky teenager
: nervously awkward and ungainly
29
onstage
// I was president of the chess club in my school—I was a good player. And my school won a competition, and I was chosen to receive the award onstage.
```
// this is the one and only time that they ever performed onstage together
// an onstage accident
```
: adverb
: adjective
30
char
// This made a big impression on me. I waited until the charred mess had dried, and then very carefully pinned it to the wall.
```
// a region charred by bush fires
// the exposed surfaces of the beams may char in a fire"
// she trimmed the char from the wicks of the oil lamps
```
: partially burn so as to blacken the surface
: (of an object) become blackened as a result of partial burning
: material that has been charred
31
admission
// I began preparing to go to the Art Academy in Belgrade—you had to go to night school and take drawing classes, to prepare a portfolio to present for admission.
```
// an admission of guilt
// the evening before her admission to hospital
// admission is £1 for adults and 50p for children
// cinema admissions have been rising recently
// there was a substantial reduction in hospital admissions
```
: a statement acknowledging the truth of something
: the process or fact of entering or being allowed to enter a place or organization
: the fee charged for entry to a public place
: the number of people entering a place
: a person admitted to hospital for treatment
32
splay
// Once, when I was eleven or twelve, I was sitting on the couch reading a book that I really liked and eating chocolate—my rare moment of happiness was complete. I was sitting there reading and eating, thoroughly relaxed, my legs splayed across the couch cushion.
```
// the girls were sitting splay-legged
// her hands were splayed across his broad shoulders
// his legs splayed out in front of him
// the river splayed out
```
: thrust or spread (things, especially limbs or fingers) out and apart
: (especially of limbs or fingers) be thrust or spread out and apart
: become wider or more separated
33
matinee
| /ˈmatɪneɪ/
// I would look for some guy who was having a lot of sex—who was kind of known for that—and I’d just use him to lose my virginity. Then I would be normal like everybody else. But it had to be on a Sunday, and it had to be ten A.M., so that I could tell my mother I was going to a movie matinee, since she wouldn’t let me go to the cinema in the evening.
: an afternoon performance in a theatre or cinema.
34
offshore
// I was just too scared of the water, especially being in water over my head. He finally lost patience. One summer day when we were at the seaside, he took me out in a little rowboat, far offshore, and threw me into the water like a dog. I was six.
```
// we dropped anchor offshore
// offshore winds
// deposits in offshore accounts
// offshore politics
```
adj, adv
: situated at sea some distance from the shore
: (of a wind) blowing towards the sea from the land
: relating to the business of extracting oil or gas from the seabed
: made, situated, or registered abroad, especially in order to take advantage of lower taxes or costs or less stringent regulation
: relocate (a business or department) to a foreign country to take advantage of lower taxes or costs
: of or derived from a foreign country
35
flail
// Then I was underwater and sinking—down, down, down, my arms flailing, salt water pouring into my mouth.
```
// I was flailing about in the water
// his arms flailed as he sought to maintain his balance
```
```
: wave or swing wildly
: struggle uselessly
: [British] cut (vegetation) with a flail
: beat, strike
: ціп
```
36
immediacy
| /ɪˈmiːdɪəsi/
// Then I would go to the scene and take photographs or make sketches. But I found it difficult to translate the violence and immediacy of these disasters into paint on canvas.
: the quality of bringing one into direct and instant involvement with something, giving rise to a sense of urgency or excitement
37
breakthrough
// In 1965, though, when I was nineteen, I did a kind of breakthrough painting.
```
// a major breakthrough in DNA research
// his big breakthrough came in 1988 when he had two paintings accepted by the RSA
```
: a sudden, dramatic, and important discovery or development
: an instance of achieving success in a particular sphere or activity
38
unaligned
| align
// After World War II, Tito’s Yugoslavia had split with the Soviet Union and declared itself an independent Communist state, unaligned with either the East or the West.
```
// the desks are aligned in straight rows facing forwards
// the pattern of the border at the joint should align perfectly
// newspapers usually align themselves with certain political parties
// all of them must now align against the foe
```
align:
: place or arrange (things) in a straight line
: put (things) into correct or appropriate relative positions
: give support to (a person, organization, or cause)
: come together in agreement or alliance
39
riddle
// Yet Tito had built a cult of personality in Yugoslavia, and his single-party government had become riddled with corruption...
```
// his car was riddled by sniper fire
// the existing law is riddled with loopholes
// for final potting, the soil mixture is not riddled
```
2
: make many holes in (someone or something), especially with gunshot
: fill or permeate (someone or something), especially with something undesirable
: pass (a substance) through a large coarse sieve
: remove ashes or other unwanted material from (something, especially a fire or stove) with a sieve
: a large coarse sieve
1
: a question or statement intentionally phrased so as to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning
: a person or thing that is difficult to understand or explain
: speak in or pose riddles
• speak in riddles – express oneself in an ambiguous or puzzling manner
40
upheavals
// In America, France, the Czech Republic, and Yugoslavia, students seeking freedom were at the forefront of the political upheavals.
```
// major upheavals in the financial markets
// the first upheaval produced a hill which was called Roof Mountain
```
: a violent or sudden change or disruption to something
: an upward displacement of part of the earth's crust
41
appoint
// At that time, I was still very close to my father, and I learned something surprising: though Tito had appointed Vojo to his elite guard after the war, he had demoted him to a lesser military unit in 1948.
```
// she has been appointed to the board
// they appointed a day in May for the meeting
```
: assign a job or role to (someone)
: determine or decide on (a time or a place)
: [archaic] decree
42
demote
// At that time, I was still very close to my father, and I learned something surprising: though Tito had appointed Vojo to his elite guard after the war, he had demoted him to a lesser military unit in 1948.
: move (someone) to a lower position or rank, usually as a punishment; (ant – promote)
43
seal (off)
// Riot police filled the streets, then sealed off the campus.
```
// he folded it, sealed the envelope, and walked to the postbox
// ice formation at the surface can seal in water
// anti-terrorist squad officers sealed off the area to search for possible bombs
// to seal the deal he offered Thornton a place on the board of the company
```
: печать; пломба
: fasten or close securely
: prevent something from escaping by closing a container or opening
: isolate an area by preventing or monitoring access to and from it
: conclude, establish, or secure (something) definitively
44
necktie
// My father did something that impressed me profoundly. Handsome in his raincoat and necktie, his hair piled up majestically, he stood in the middle of Marx and Engels Square and gave a passionate speech renouncing his membership in the Communist Party and denouncing Yugoslavia’s Red Bourgeoisie and all it stood for.
: [dated•North American] tie
45
renounce
// My father did something that impressed me profoundly. Handsome in his raincoat and necktie, his hair piled up majestically, he stood in the middle of Marx and Engels Square and gave a passionate speech renouncing his membership in the Communist Party and denouncing Yugoslavia’s Red Bourgeoisie and all it stood for.
46
denounce
// My father did something that impressed me profoundly. Handsome in his raincoat and necktie, his hair piled up majestically, he stood in the middle of Marx and Engels Square and gave a passionate speech renouncing his membership in the Communist Party and denouncing Yugoslavia’s Red Bourgeoisie and all it stood for.
```
// the Assembly denounced the use of violence
// priests denounced him to the King for heresy
```
: publicly declare to be wrong or evil
: inform against
47
commodity
// In the 1960s, a new avant-garde was starting to reject the old idea of art as commodity, as paintings and sculptures that could be collected, and new ideas of conceptual and performance art were beginning to catch on.
// water is a precious commodity
: a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold, such as copper or coffee
: a useful or valuable thing
48
catch on
// In the 1960s, a new avant-garde was starting to reject the old idea of art as commodity, as paintings and sculptures that could be collected, and new ideas of conceptual and performance art were beginning to catch on.
```
// the idea of linking pay to performance has caught on
// I caught on to what it was the guy was saying
```
: become popular
: understand what is meant or how to do something
49
proposal
// "This performance has two possible endings" – my proposal said.
```
// a set of proposals for a major new high-speed rail link
// the proposal of a flexible school-leaving age
// surely a woman as beautiful as you has had proposals
```
: a plan or suggestion, especially a formal or written one, put forward for consideration by others
: the action of proposing a plan or suggestion
: an offer of marriage
50
flatter
// Don't flatter yourself that you have any ideas.
// she was flattering him in order to avoid doing what he wanted
: lavish praise and compliments on (someone), often insincerely and with the aim of furthering one's own interests
: cause (someone) to feel honoured and pleased
: choose to believe something favourable about oneself, typically when this belief is unfounded
: give an unrealistically favourable impression of
: (of a colour or a style of clothing) cause (someone) to appear to the best advantage
51
do things big
// And that rainy afternoon, she actually did it: she committed suicide. But—when we Slavs do things, we do them big!
52
aegis
| /ˈiːdʒɪs/
// Just before the center opened, Dunja had attended the first documenta, an avant-garde art exhibition in Germany under the aegis of a brilliant Swiss curator.
// the negotiations were conducted under the aegis of the UN
: the protection, backing, or support of a particular person or organization
: (in classical art and mythology) an attribute of Zeus and Athene (or their Roman counterparts Jupiter and Minerva) usually represented as a goatskin shield
53
clairvoyant
| /klɛːˈvɔɪənt/
// While I was in Zagreb, I went to see famous clairvoyant.
```
// she has had a message from a clairvoyant that her son is alive and well
// he didn't tell me about it and I'm not clairvoyant
```
: a person who claims to have a supernatural ability to perceive events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact
: having or exhibiting clairvoyance
54
menial
// ...I fond myself living in London, working menial jobs and desperate for money.
: (of work) not requiring much skill and lacking prestige
: [dated] (of a servant) domestic
: a person with a menial job
55
bric-a-brac
| /ˈbrɪkəbrak/
// That flat was such a strange place—it was packed with all the fancy bric-a-brac of a very materialistic Communist lady.
// then came donations of bric-a-brac
: miscellaneous objects and ornaments of little value; trinkets
56
stationery
// Zoran also designed a letterhead for me, and a Center for Amplified Art logo for the stationery.
: writing and other office materials; канцтовари
57
eerie
| /ˈɪəri/
// The effect was eerie, but it expressed my strong wish for freedom from the suffocation.
// an eerie green glow in the sky
: strange and frightening
58
bleat
// ...I put tape machines playing other sounds of nature: wind blowing, surf crashing, sheep bleating.
// the lamb was bleating weakly
: (of a sheep, goat, or calf) make a characteristic weak, wavering cry
: speak or complain in a weak, querulous, or foolish way
59
onlooker
// Some of the onlookers were fascinated; some, repelled. But nobody was bored.
: a non-participating observer; a spectator.
60
repel
// Some of the onlookers were fascinated; some, repelled. But nobody was bored.
```
// electrically charged objects attract or repel one another
// she was repelled by the permanent smell of drink on his breath
```
: drive or force (an attack or attacker) back or away
: (of a magnetic pole or electric field) force (something similarly magnetized or charged) away from itself
: (of a substance) resist mixing with or be impervious to (another substance)
: be repulsive or distasteful to
: [formal] refuse to accept (something, especially an argument or theory)
61
plywood
| /ˈplʌɪwʊd/
// The next year, I did more sound pieces for other shows in Belgrade: in one of them (called War), installed in the entrance of the Museum of Contemporary Art, visitors walked down a narrow corridor formed by two sheets of plywood to the deafening roar of recorded machine-gun fire.
: a type of strong thin wooden board consisting of two or more layers glued and pressed together with the direction of the grain alternating
62
stipend
| /ˈstʌɪpɛnd/
// This regular stipend just allowed him to produce steadily. In Belgrade in the early 1970s we had no such support systems, and so poor Era just fell by the wayside.
: a fixed regular sum paid as a salary or as expenses to a clergyman, teacher, or public official
63
wayside
// This regular stipend just allowed him to produce steadily. In Belgrade in the early 1970s we had no such support systems, and so poor Era just fell by the wayside.
: the edge of a road
• fall by the wayside — fail to persist in an endeavour or undertaking
64
feces
| /ˈfiːsiːz/
// One of them, Günter Brus, was sentenced to prison after a piece in which he simultaneously masturbated, spread feces over his body, and sang the Austrian national anthem.
: waste matter remaining after food has been digested, discharged from the bowels; excrement
65
caution
// When there is turbulence on an airplane, I shake with fear. I start composing my last will and testament. But when it comes to my work, I cast caution to the winds.
: care taken to avoid danger or mistakes
• throw caution to the wind – act in a completely reckless manner
• err on the side of caution – ake a comparatively safe course of action when presented with a choice
66
incapacitating
| incapacitate
// I was so nervous that I was scared I’d get one of my incapacitating whole-body migraines.
// he was incapacitated by a heart attack
: prevent from functioning in a normal way
: [law] deprive (someone) of their legal capacity
67
thud
| /θʌd/
// ...the first tape machine played back the sounds of the knifepoint thudding rhythmically and my groans of pain...
: a dull, heavy sound, such as that made by an object falling to the ground
: move, fall, or strike something with a dull, heavy sound
68
nick
| /nɪk/
// ...quite deliberately to nick myself in precise unison with my previous accidents.
```
// a small nick on his wrist
// he'll end up in the nick for the rest of his life
```
1
: a small cut or notch
: make a nick or nicks in
: [informal; British] prison; a police station
: [informal; British] steal
: [informal; British] arrest
: [informal; North American] cheat someone of (a sum of money)
```
// they nicked across the road
// I got up and got dressed and nicked off
```
2 [informal; Australian]
: go quickly or surreptitiously
: depart; go away
• get nicked – go away (used as an expression of anger or impatience)
69
behold
// behold your lord and prince!
: [archaic; literary] see or observe (someone or something, especially of remarkable or impressive nature)
70
ream
| /riːm/
// There, on a shelf, were reams and reams of preprinted graph paper.
// reams of the paper have been used to debate this question
1
: 500 (formerly 480) sheets of paper
: a large quantity of something, especially paper or writing
2
: widen (a hole) with a special tool.
: [informal; American] rebuke (someone) fiercely
: [vulgar slang; American] have an intercourse with someone
71
notoriety
| /nəʊtəˈrʌɪɪti/
// I began teaching at the Novi Sad Academy, but—thanks to my growing notoriety and no doubt thanks to Danica’s influence as well—my course load was small.
// the song has gained some notoriety in the press
: the state of being famous or well known for some bad quality or deed
72
heady
| /ˈhɛdi/
// It was heady company. But as my horizons broadened and I understood how conceptualism was taking hold, I yearned to make my own art more visceral.
```
// several bottles of heady local wine
// a heady exotic perfume
```
: (of alcoholic drink) potent; intoxicating
: having a strong or exhilarating effect; exiting, thrilling
73
take hold
// It was heady company. But as my horizons broadened and I understood how conceptualism was taking hold, I yearned to make my own art more visceral.
// the reforms of the nineteenth century had taken hold
: start to have an effect
74
visceral
| /ˈvɪs(ə)r(ə)l/
// It was heady company. But as my horizons broadened and I understood how conceptualism was taking hold, I yearned to make my own art more visceral.
```
// the visceral nervous system
// the voters' visceral fear of change
```
: relating to the viscera; вісцеральний, що стосується нутрощів
: relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect; instinctive, deep-down
75
ablaze
// My mind was ablaze—it felt as though the possibilities for performance art were infinite.
```
// his clothes were ablaze
// New England is ablaze with colour in autumn
// his eyes were ablaze with excitement
```
: burning fiercely
: very brightly coloured or lighted
: filled with anger or another strong emotion
76
shaving
// In between the two star outlines I would lay wood shavings soaked in 100 liters of gasoline.
// she brushed wood shavings from her knees
: a thin strip cut off a surface
: тирса
77
wear off
// And this pill took five hours to wear off.
: lose effectiveness or intensity; fade, diminish, lessen, ebb
78
vicious
| viciously
// I had wanted attention for my work, but much of the attention I got in Belgrade was negative. My hometown newspapers ridiculed me viciously.
```
// a vicious assault
// the dog was vicious and likely to bite
// a vicious fly bug
// every soul on earth, virtuous or vicious, shall perish
```
```
: deliberately cruel or violent
: (of an animal) wild and dangerous to people
: serious or dangerous
: [literary] immoral
: [archaic] imperfect
```
79
receptacle
| /rɪˈsɛptək(ə)l/
// I would merely be the object, the receptacle.
// fast-food receptacles
: a hollow object used to contain something; container, holder, can, тара
: [American] an electrical socket
80
bowler hat
// A hammer. A saw. A feather. A fork. A bottle of perfume. A bowler hat. An ax. A rose. A bell. Scissors. Needles. A pen. Honey. A lamb bone. A carving knife. A mirror. A newspaper. A shawl.
: a man's hard felt hat with a round dome-shaped crown
81
shawl
// A hammer. A saw. A feather. A fork. A bottle of perfume. A bowler hat. An ax. A rose. A bell. Scissors. Needles. A pen. Honey. A lamb bone. A carving knife. A mirror. A newspaper. A shawl.
: a piece of fabric worn by women over the shoulders or head or wrapped round a baby
82
ax
// A hammer. A saw. A feather. A fork. A bottle of perfume. A bowler hat. An ax. A rose. A bell. Scissors. Needles. A pen. Honey. A lamb bone. A carving knife. A mirror. A newspaper. A shawl.
```
// I started swinging the axe at the lumps of driftwood
// the company is axing 150 jobs
```
axe
: a tool used for chopping wood, typically of iron with a steel edge and wooden handle
: cut or strike with an axe, especially violently or destructively
: a measure intended to reduce costs drastically, especially one involving redundancies
: end, cancel, or dismiss suddenly and ruthlessly
83
scuffle
// There was a murmur in the crowd, and someone grabbed him. A scuffle broke out.
```
// there were minor scuffles with police
// the teacher noticed two pupils scuffling in the corridor
// he heard the scuffle of feet
// a drenched woman scuffled through the doorway"
```
: a short, confused fight or struggle at close quarters
: an act or sound of moving in a hurried, confused, or shuffling manner
: move in a hurried, confused, or awkward way, making a rustling or shuffling sound
84
temper
// This being southern Italy, voices were raised; tempers flared.
: a person's state of mind seen in terms of their being angry or calm
: a tendency to become angry easily
: an angry state of mind
: the degree of hardness and elasticity in steel or other metal
: improve the hardness and elasticity of (steel or other metal) by reheating and then cooling it
: act as a neutralizing or counterbalancing force to (something)
: tune (a piano or other instrument) so as to adjust the note intervals correctly
85
pinpricks
// The pain that had been absent when I received the pinpricks and the cut to my neck now throbbed.
prick
: make a small hole in (something) with a sharp point; pierce slightly
: (especially of a horse or dog) make (the ears) stand erect when on the alert
: an act of piercing something with a sharp point
86
throb
// The pain that had been absent when I received the pinpricks and the cut to my neck now throbbed.
```
// the war drums throbbed
// her foot throbbed with pain
// the throb of the ship's engines
// the dull ache became a throb
```
: beat or sound with a strong, regular rhythm; pulsate steadily
: feel pain in a series of regular beats
87
clump
// In the morning I looked in the mirror, and a whole clump of my hair had turned gray.
```
// a clump of ferns
// they sat on the wall in clumps of two and three
// the particles tend to clump together
```
```
: a small group of trees or plants growing closely together
: a small, compact group of people
: form a clump or clumps
: a compacted mass or lump of something
: clomp, trudge, tramp
```
88
work up
// This was a brand-new concept to the people who came to Studio Morra that night, and it was perfectly natural that those who attended felt worked up about it.
```
// he got all worked up and started shouting and swearing
// I finally worked up the courage to ask if I had the job
// painters were accustomed to working up compositions from drawings
// he's doing weight training to strengthen the muscles around his left knee and will work up from there
```
: gradually bring someone to a state of intense excitement, anger, or anxiety
: bring something gradually to a more complete or satisfactory state
: proceed gradually towards something more advanced or intense
89
curfew
// After the opening, a group of my friends went out to dinner, but I knew I couldn’t go with them if I was to make it home in time for my ten o’clock curfew.
```
// a dusk-to-dawn curfew
// to be abroad after curfew without permission was to risk punishment
// they had to return before the curfew sounded
```
: a regulation requiring people to remain indoors between specified hours, typically at night
: the hour designated as the beginning of a curfew
: the daily signal indicating the beginning of a curfew
90
lapel
| /ləˈpɛl/
// My mother was sitting at the dining room table in her work uniform: double-breasted suit with a brooch on her lapel.
: the part on each side of a coat or jacket immediately below the collar which is folded back on either side of the front opening
91
contort
// Her face was contorted with rage.
// a spasm of pain contorted his face
: twist or bend out of the normal shape
92
wavelengths
// I was young, and I was extremely sexual. Neša and I were on different wavelengths this way.
// when we met we hit it off immediately—we're on the same wavelength
: a person's ideas and way of thinking, especially as it affects their ability to communicate with others
93
burly
| /ˈbəːli/
// Nitsch was a burly, bearded Austrian.
// I saw a burly figure approaching
: (of a person) large and strong; heavily built; sturdy
94
fling
// I was powerfully attracted to him, and we had a brief fling.
95
fling
// I was powerfully attracted to him, and we had a brief fling.
```
// he picked up the debris and flung it away
// he flung back the bedclothes
// he flung himself into his athletics
// Lisa had flung out of the house without so much as a glance at him
// one final fling before a tranquil retirement
// I had a fling with someone when I was at college
```
: throw or hurl forcefully
: move or push (something) suddenly or violently
: start or engage in (an activity or enterprise) with great energy and enthusiasm
: go quickly and angrily
: a short period of enjoyment or wild behaviour
: a short, spontaneous sexual relationship
96
liaison
| /lɪˈeɪz(ə)n,lɪˈeɪzɒn/
// Travel always had a kind of aphrodisiac effect on me. But this latest liaison, coming on the heels of the dark Nitsch extravaganza, somehow melded with that piece in my mind and got under my skin.
```
// the head porter works in close liaison with the reception office
// he's our liaison with a number of interested parties
// I have been involved in an opportunistic sexual liaison with a work colleague
```
: communication or cooperation which facilitates a close working relationship between people or organizations
: a person who acts as a link to assist communication or cooperation between people
: a sexual relationship, especially one that is secret or illicit
: the binding or thickening agent of a sauce, often based on egg yolks
97
whip
// As I whipped myself, my blood flew everywhere.
: a strip of leather or length of cord fastened to a handle, used for flogging or beating a person or for urging on an animal; батіг
: a blow with a whip or similar implement
98
subsidized
| /ˈsʌbsɪdʌɪzd/
// And she was subsidized by the Dutch government (as was the television show), so money was not an issue.
: (of an organization or activity) supported financially
99
permeate
| /ˈpəːmɪeɪt/
// the aroma of soup permeated the air
: spread throughout (something)
100
catch on
// ...new ideas of conceptual and performance art were beginning to catch on.
```
// the idea of linking pay to performance has caught on
// I caught on to what it was the guy was saying
```
: become popular
: understand what is meant or how to do something
101
pluck
// The left side was shaved smooth and powdered, with a plucked eyebrow and light rouge on the lips; the right side was stubbly and a little greasy, with a normal eyebrow and no makeup.
```
// she plucked a blade of grass
// whether you pluck your eyebrows depends on your type of looks
// the turkeys are plucked and cleaned by machine
// the baby was plucked from a grim orphanage
// she picked up her guitar and plucked it idly
// it must have taken a lot of pluck to walk along a path marked ‘Danger’
```
: take hold of (something) and quickly remove it from its place
: pull some of the hairs from (one's eyebrows) to make them look neater
: pull the feathers from (a bird's carcass) to prepare it for cooking
: quickly or suddenly remove someone from a dangerous or unpleasant situation
: sound (a musical instrument or its strings) with one's finger or a plectrum
: spirited and determined courage
: the heart, liver, and lungs of an animal as food
102
stubbly
// The left side was shaved smooth and powdered, with a plucked eyebrow and light rouge on the lips; the right side was stubbly and a little greasy, with a normal eyebrow and no makeup.
```
// a stubbly chin
// fields of yellow stubble
// she ran her fingers over the dark stubble on his cheeks
```
: covered with stubble;
stubble
: the cut stalks of cereal plants left sticking out of the ground after the grain is harvested
: short, stiff hairs growing on a part of the body that has not been shaved for a while, especially on a man’s face
103
greasy
// The left side was shaved smooth and powdered, with a plucked eyebrow and light rouge on the lips; the right side was stubbly and a little greasy, with a normal eyebrow and no makeup.
```
// he wiped his greasy fingers
// greasy skin
// greasy food
// the rain's making the roads greasy
// the greasy little man from the newspaper
```
: covered with, resembling, or produced by grease or oil
: slippery
: (of a person or their manner) unpleasantly or insincerely polite or ingratiating
grease
: a thick oily substance, especially as used as a lubricant
: animal fat used or produced in cooking
: smear or lubricate with grease
104
wig
// For the self-portraits he emphasized the female side of his face with a long half wig and heavy makeup, including false eyelashes and bright red lipstick.
105
steer clear of
// I was floating on a cloud, so in love that I could not even breathe. I steered clear of Neša—whenever he called, I always managed to be busy.
106
outset
// I think we both felt from the outset that there was something historical about our relationship; we wanted to memorialize it.
• from the outset
107
entrapment
// I lay on a mattress on the floor, dressed all in black, my head hanging off the edge of the mattress, and screamed at the top of my lungs, shrieking out all my frustration with everything: Belgrade, Yugoslavia, my mother, my entrapment.
108
frown
// Like the guy in Zagreb, he drank a cup of Turkish coffee, then poured the grounds onto a sheet of newspaper and peered at them. After a minute he shook his head and frowned. “You absolutely should not go,” he told me.
109
draft
// Ulay’s father, who was over fifty already, was drafted and sent to fight in the Nazi siege of Stalingrad.
110
siege
// Ulay’s father, who was over fifty already, was drafted and sent to fight in the Nazi siege of Stalingrad.
111
trickle
// In the Polaroid, he posed with his head cocked like Jesus dying on the cross; a red trickle, like the blood from the spear wound in Christ’s side, ran from the airplane pin down Ulay’s flesh.
112
spear
// In the Polaroid, he posed with his head cocked like Jesus dying on the cross; a red trickle, like the blood from the spear wound in Christ’s side, ran from the airplane pin down Ulay’s flesh.
113
dabble
// Before we got together, he’d dabbled with drugs; he’d been a habitué of the city’s transvestite scene, a fruitful subject for his Polaroids.
114
habitué
// Before we got together, he’d dabbled with drugs; he’d been a habitué of the city’s transvestite scene, a fruitful subject for his Polaroids.
115
clamp
// Then we clamped our mouths together and he blew his air into my mouth.
116
litter
// And there in the Belgrade pound was an Albanian shepherd nursing her litter. I picked the smallest one, the runt.
117
runt
// And there in the Belgrade pound was an Albanian shepherd nursing her litter. I picked the smallest one, the runt.
118
facilities
// We could always sleep in the van, but sometimes it was nice to have bathroom facilities.
119
bunk
// He said we could bunk in their janitor’s closet. Perfect.
120
janitor
// He said we could bunk in their janitor’s closet. Perfect.
121
imponderable
// Imponderable. Such imponderable human factors as one’s aesthetic sensitivity. The overriding importance of imponderables determining human conduct.
122
trot
// ...only this time, instead of running toward each other, we would stand back to back, naked, then sprint in opposite directions, each colliding with a matching obstacle, a heavy wooden column four meters high. Then we would trot backward to the starting point and begin all over again.
123
raptly
// The audience watched raptly as we started simultaneously and ran into our respective columns.
124
budge
// Still, despite the fact that Ulay weighed more than me and was stronger than me, his column got stuck. No matter how hard he slammed against it, it wouldn’t budge.
125
unbeknownst
// Now (unbeknownst to me) he was standing off to the side in the garage, having put some clothes on, watching me continue.
126
frenetic
// Now I was in an altered state: the performance had become frenetic. The spectacle of this naked woman smashing into this heavy object, again and again, disturbed some of the onlookers.
127
lustily
// Others were still cheering lustily—it was like a football match.
128
refrain
// Audiences at art performances usually refrained from applause, since performance was supposed to be unrehearsed, and more in the moment than theater.
129
flinch
// We’d stated beforehand that the performance would end when one of us flinched—but that never happened.
130
beforehand
// We’d stated beforehand that the performance would end when one of us flinched—but that never happened.
131
incision
// Ulay and I performed a new piece called Incision— Incision in Space.
132
incredulous
// When they heard that we’d planned the karate attack, they were incredulous at first, then angry, then furious.
133
gritty
// New York was in financial trouble in those days, and the city was much grittier.
134
strangle
// Later that day he tried to strangle his assistant. I tried to stay away from him after that.
135
accomplice
// Immaterially transmitted energy causes energy as a dialogue, from us to the sensibility and mind of an eye witness who becomes an accomplice.
136
hat
// Laurie and I took a canoe out to a little island, where there was a hut with some kind of ritual going on inside.
137
going on
// Laurie and I took a canoe out to a little island, where there was a hut with some kind of ritual going on inside.
138
singular
// It was a singular place, occupied by singular people.
139
faucet
// We fashioned a shower by attaching a hose to the kitchen faucet: you bathed standing in a bucket in the middle of the floor and spraying yourself with the hose.
140
hose
// We fashioned a shower by attaching a hose to the kitchen faucet: you bathed standing in a bucket in the middle of the floor and spraying yourself with the hose.
141
pique
// In those days videos were very rare, so our interest was immediately piqued.
142
senile
// For instance, Edmondo’s grandfather was a pyromaniac. And since he was also a bit senile, he was very dangerous—he had set his house on fire a number of times.
143
set on fire
// For instance, Edmondo’s grandfather was a pyromaniac. And since he was also a bit senile, he was very dangerous—he had set his house on fire a number of times.
144
crane
// I was standing by a dock on the Amsterdam harbor; out of sight of the camera, and over my head, Ulay, wearing a red shirt, was hanging on to a crane.
145
plummet
// Then, after what feels like forever, there’s a red flash as Ulay plummets by and splashes down into the water.
```
// a climber was killed when he plummeted 300 feet down an icy gully
// hardware sales plummeted
// the bird has a circular display flight followed by an earthward plummet
```
: fall or drop straight down at high speed; plunge, crash, drop, dive
: decrease rapidly in value or amount; plunge
: a steep and rapid fall or drop
146
unbridgeable
// In Point of Contact, we were so close, and yet that final tiny space between us, the gap that ultimately prevented a merging of our souls, was unbridgeable.
// a seemingly unbridgeable cultural abyss
: (of a gap or difference) not able to be bridged or made less significant
147
originator
// At the same time, the originators of the medium were no longer young.
// Wegener was the originator of the theory of continental drift
: a person who creates or initiates something
148
ulterior
| /ʌlˈtɪərɪə/
// I also had an ulterior motive in accepting this invitation.
// could there be an ulterior motive behind his request?
: existing beyond what is obvious or admitted; intentionally hidden
: beyond what is immediate or present; coming in the future
149
outback
// And so when I thought of visiting Australia, what compelled me most of all was the idea of going to the outback.
150
waking
// And the creators, we read, existed across space and time: the Aborigines were in touch with them both in dreams and waking life.
151
creep
// Meanwhile the shadow crept, ever so slowly, across the courtyard—until the performance ended.
```
// he crept downstairs, hardly making any noise
// the fog was creeping up from the marsh
// thorny roses crept up the dull gray walls
// I thought he was a nasty little creep
// an attempt to prevent this slow creep of costs
// stones and earth slowly slip down the slopes by soil creep
// low in the wall are creeps, through which ewes gain access to grazing from the pastures behind
// young piglets spend most of their time in the creep
```
: move slowly and carefully in order to avoid being heard or noticed
: [informal] a detestable person
: slow steady movement, especially when imperceptible
: [British] an opening in a hedge or wall for an animal to pass through
: [British] solid food given to young farm animals in order to wean them
152
crusty
| /ˈkrʌsti/
// He’s a bit of a crusty character,” Nick said, “but if you give him this letter, maybe he’ll show you the outback.
```
// crusty bread
// a crusty old Scots judge
// she cuts a curious figure amid the crusties and mud-stained tree-huggers
```
: having or acting as a hard outer layer or covering; crispy, crumbly, brittle
: (especially of an old person) easily irritated; bed-tempered, grumpy, grouchy, irritable
: [informal] a young person who is homeless or travels constantly, has a shabby appearance, and rejects conventional values
153
menacingly
| /ˈmɛnɪsɪŋli/
// I want nothing to do with you—get the fuck out of here!” He stood up menacingly; we backed out of his office.
// a helicopter hovered menacingly overhead
: in a way that suggests the presence of danger; threateningly
to menace
154
brink
// The members of the council had loved The Brink. They okayed our proposal and gave us a generous grant for the following year.
```
// the brink of the cliffs
// the country was on the brink of a constitutional crisis"
```
: the extreme edge of land before a steep slope or a body or water; edge, rim, margin, boundary
: a point at which something, typically something unwelcome, is about to happen; the verge
155
boulder
// An Aborigine will say to you, “This is a snake man just here fight with a water woman”—and all you see are some boulders, maybe a bush that looks like some strange form of fish.
: a large rock, typically one that has been worn smooth by erosion
156
concession
// But if you don’t move, if you have the willpower to make no compromise or concession, the pain becomes so intense that you think you’ll lose consciousness.
```
// the government was unwilling to make any further concessions
// this strict rule was relaxed by concession
// her only concession to fashion was her ornate silver ring
// tax concessions
// railcard holders can obtain concessions
// new logging concessions
// the concessions will offer photo processing and a pharmacy
```
: a thing that is granted, especially in response to demands; compromise
: the action of conceding or granting something; admission
: a gesture made in recognition of a demand or prevailing standard; discount, rebate
: a preferential allowance or rate given by an organization
: [British] a reduction in the price of something for a certain category of person
: the right to use land or other property for a specified purpose, granted by a government, company, or other controlling body
: a commercial operation set up by agreement within the premises of a larger concern
: the right, given by a company, to sell goods, especially in a particular place
157
fester
// Whatever it was, it got under his skin and festered. We continued performing Gold Found by the Artists, but things between us became subtly different.
```
// I developed a tropical sore that festered badly
// piles of mouldy grey paper festered by the sink
// below the surface, the old antagonisms festered
// remand prisoners are left to fester in our jails while they wait for trial
```
: (of a wound or sore) become septic; suppurate
: (of food or rubbish) become rotten and offensive to the senses
: (of a negative feeling or a problem) become worse or more intense, especially through long-term neglect or indifference
: (of a person) deteriorate physically and mentally in isolated inactivity
158
fast
// We fasted, and we did everything—sitting, standing, lying down, walking, even eating—in slow motion, in order to better understand what we were actually doing.
```
// the ministry instructed people to fast
// all patients were fasted before surgery
// a five-day fast
```
: abstain from all or some kinds of food or drink, especially as a religious observance
: be deprived of all or some kinds of food, especially for medical or experimental reasons
: an act or period of fasting
159
perentie
// ...one described the perentie, a huge, carnivorous lizard native to the outback.
: a large brown and yellow monitor lizard which lives in arid regions of Australia.
160
carnivorous
| /kɑːˈnɪv(ə)rəs/
// ...one described the perentie, a huge, carnivorous lizard native to the outback.
: (of an animal) feeding on other animals; meat-eating
161
sweep
| /swiːp/
// It began with a few straight sweeps; then it wound into a rectangular maze, and finally ended in a series of wiggles.
```
// I've swept the floor
// she swept the tea leaves into a dustpan
// I was swept along by the crowd
// long hair swept up into a high chignon
// a large black car swept past the open windows
// he swept his hand round the room
// she swept magnificently from the hall
// the rebellion had swept through all four of the country's provinces
// green forests swept down the hillsides
// the police finished their sweep through the woods
```
: clean (an area) by brushing away dirt or litter; wipe, brush, clean, mop, scrape
: an act of sweeping something with a brush
: move or push (someone or something) with great force; remove, expel, eliminate; carry, pull, drag
: brush (hair) back from one's face or upwards
: move swiftly and smoothly; glide, sail, rush
: cause to move swiftly and smoothly
: (of a person) move in a confident and stately manner
: a long, swift curving movement
: (of a geographical or natural feature) extend continuously in a particular direction, especially in a curve
: search (an area) for something
: a comprehensive search or survey of a place or area
: a long, typically curved stretch of road, river, or land
162
maze
// It began with a few straight sweeps; then it wound into a rectangular maze, and finally ended in a series of wiggles.
```
// the house has a maze and a walled Italian garden
// they were trapped in a menacing maze of corridors
// a maze of petty regulations
// she was still mazed with the drug she had taken"
```
: a network of paths and hedges designed as a puzzle through which one has to find a way; labyrinth, web, tangle
: a complex network of paths or passages
: a confusing mass of information
: be dazed and confused
163
wiggle
// It began with a few straight sweeps; then it wound into a rectangular maze, and finally ended in a series of wiggles.
```
// a slight wiggle of the hips
// a wiggle on a chart
```
: move or cause to move up and down or from side to side with small rapid movement; jiggle, wriggle, flutter
: a wiggling movement
: a deviation in a line
164
unfathomable
| /ʌnˈfað(ə)məb(ə)l/
// I always imagine this dinner, the night before setting out to God knows where, before taking this unfathomable risk. I imagine Columbus sitting at the table with the convicts, all of them feeling this might be their last supper.
```
// her grey eyes were dark with some unfathomable emotion
// mountains of unfathomable scale
```
: incapable of being fully explored or understood
: (of water or a natural feature) impossible to measure the extent of
165
convict
// I always imagine this dinner, the night before setting out to God knows where, before taking this unfathomable risk. I imagine Columbus sitting at the table with the convicts, all of them feeling this might be their last supper.
```
// two escaped convicts kidnapped them at gunpoint
// the theives were convicted of the robbery
```
: declare (someone) to be guilty of a criminal offence by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law
: a person found guilty of a criminal offence and serving a sentence of imprisonment
166
poverty-stricken
stricken
/ˈstrɪk(ə)n/
// Now we go to deepest Bosnia, where among poverty-stricken villages on the edge of deep forest there was a game warden who everyone hated.
```
// the pilot landed the stricken aircraft
// she looked at Anne's stricken face, contorted with worry
```
past participle of strike (sense 2 of the verbsense 7 of the verb)
: seriously affected by an undesirable condition or unpleasant feeling
: (of a person's face or appearance) showing great distress
• stricken in years – old and feeble
167
redeem
// Ulay and me, the monks made this entire puja, ensuring long life, and redeeming the negative energy of Positive Zero.
168
distraught
// After he forced her to talk, she moved back to Sweden, and he was distraught—but then she wrote him a letter and said that the whole problem had been Amsterdam. She just hated living in the city.
169
whack
// The Tuscan landscape was beautiful, but Edmondo's farm was totally a whack.
170
hernia
// He had a pig called Rodolfina who had a hernia, and a donkey who had fallen in love with the pig: the donkey kind of didn’t know he was a donkey, and he slept with Rodolfina.
171
jet
// It was a small jet: the pilot didn’t have much experience flying it, and they hit a sudden downdraft over the Alps and went into a mountain.
172
downdraft
// It was a small jet: the pilot didn’t have much experience flying it, and they hit a sudden downdraft over the Alps and went into a mountain.
173
edifice
// That edifice which best expresses the notion of the Earth as a living being is the Great Wall of China.
174
notion
// That edifice which best expresses the notion of the Earth as a living being is the Great Wall of China.
175
ley
// In modern scientific terms the Wall lies on what are called geodetic force lines, or ley lines.
176
mansion
// We were given an old mansion to film in, as well as full permission to film anywhere outdoors.
177
frumpy
// I was hurt and angry, but there was more: I was now in my late thirties, and feeling fat and frumpy and bad about myself in general.
178
recuperate
// While Ulay recuperated, he claimed to have become interested in certain tantric practices that would unleash his kundalini life force.
179
unleash
// While Ulay recuperated, he claimed to have become interested in certain tantric practices that would unleash his kundalini life force.
180
enlist
// He was actually trying to enlist my sympathy!
181
cowardice
// But to leave it all on me and pretend he was above it all … the arrogance (or cowardice) of it was breathtaking.
182
weary
// One group, from Modus Vivendi, showed Ulay and me each posed as a hunched, weary figure carrying a box.
183
hunch
// One group, from Modus Vivendi, showed Ulay and me each posed as a hunched, weary figure carrying a box.
184
petty
// And that we failed for the stupidest, pettiest reason—the failure of our domestic life—was the saddest thing of all.
185
morph
// But Ulay, naturally, was turned on—and surprised and delighted that I had morphed into a different woman.
186
sink so low
// This was how low I had sunk. And sexual excitement had nothing to do with my idea.
: to be dishonest enough or selfish enough to do something very bad or unfair
187
incessant
// This incessant dancing and chanting requires almost supernatural physical force.
188
loomm
// We had conceived our grand romantic idea of walking the Great Wall of China eight years earlier, under a full moon in the Australian outback. The notion had loomed so powerfully in our shared imaginings.
189
intact
// We had thought—back then—that the Wall was still an intact, continuous structure that we would simply hike along.
190
camp
// We had thought—back then—that the Wall was still an intact, continuous structure that we would simply hike along; that each of us would walk alone; that we would camp out on the Wall each night.
191
entourage
// Instead of walking alone, each of us would have an entourage consisting of a small company of guards and a translator.
192
treacherous
// ...in places, the Wall was simply treacherous piles of rock.
193
salvage
// And I will also confess that despite everything, at this point I still had hopes of salvaging our relationship.
194
bloated
// This guy was bloated—he looked like hell. And he looked at me, and suddenly I poured my heart out to him.
195
cross
// "That’s the deal. If you cross me …" He showed me the pistol.
196
copious
// We threw out all the carpets that were wet from piss. And then I sprayed the whole place with copious amounts of lavender spray.
197
delinquents
// He told me his wife was in a hospital somewhere, dying from heroin overuse; he had two kids, twelve and fourteen, who were delinquents, in some kind of special-care facility.
198
crate
// I went alone, with just a rucksack and three crates of Coca-Cola.
199
stipulate
// Tito had stipulated in his will that after his death, each republic should be governed by a president who would serve a one-year term.
200
mobs
// Whenever a truckload of anything—toilet paper, cans of tomatoes—would arrive, mobs would descend to buy the goods at inflated prices.
201
recline
// While I reclined there, still breathing hard, a new video was projected, showing me in a white lab coat, giving a lecture about rats.
202
trove
// After three months, I only take the ideas from the trash can. I don’t even look at the ideas they liked. Because the trash can is a treasure trove of things they’re afraid to do.
203
pail
// In another piece I sat with the skeleton on my lap and, using a hard scrub brush and a pail full of soapy water, spent three hours furiously scouring its every nook and cranny.
204
scour
// In another piece I sat with the skeleton on my lap and, using a hard scrub brush and a pail full of soapy water, spent three hours furiously scouring its every nook and cranny.
205
nook
// In another piece I sat with the skeleton on my lap and, using a hard scrub brush and a pail full of soapy water, spent three hours furiously scouring its every nook and cranny.
206
cranny
// In another piece I sat with the skeleton on my lap and, using a hard scrub brush and a pail full of soapy water, spent three hours furiously scouring its every nook and cranny.
207
transcend
// If energy could transcend time, I wondered, why couldn’t the human body?
208
bore
| past of bear
// All the sides in the war bore blame, I felt. I wanted to grieve for war everywhere, not produce a piece of propaganda related to this particular conflict.
209
gristly
// ...five hundred clean bones underneath; two thousand bloody, meaty, gristly bones on top.
210
gouge
// The rat-catcher waits until the last rat’s teeth have grown almost to the point of suffocating it, then he opens the cage, gouges the rat’s eyes out with a knife.
211
carnage
// Here you have the essence of Balkan Baroque: horrifying carnage and an intensely disturbing story, followed by a sexy dance—then a return to more bloody awfulness.
212
permeat
// I would go back to the apartment I was renting and take a long, long shower, trying to wash away the smell of rotten meat that had permeated my pores.
213
inconspicuous
// I want to hold you,” he said. “I want to kiss you—everywhere. Michael still hadn’t seen us, but it wasn’t exactly as if I was an inconspicuous figure at this party.
214
hermit
// I noticed a peculiar thing: because tourists had taken all the island’s seashells away, the hermit crabs were using discarded plastic sunscreen containers instead of shells for their homes.
215
sunscreen
// I noticed a peculiar thing: because tourists had taken all the island’s seashells away, the hermit crabs were using discarded plastic sunscreen containers instead of shells for their homes.
216
plaque
// A plaque invited visitors—men, women, and children; families were encouraged to participate—to turn away from the busy street and press head, heart, and hips against the pale-pink, soft-looking blocks and wait.
217
tourmaline
| /ˈtʊəməlɪn,ˈtʊəməliːn/
// I installed two copper chairs: a normal-size one for humans, with a piece of black tourmaline on the back, and a seatless, soaring (fifty-foot-high) chair for the spirit.
: a typically black or blackish mineral that occurs as prismatic crystals in granitic and other rocks.
турмалін
218
soar
// I installed two copper chairs: a normal-size one for humans, with a piece of black tourmaline on the back, and a seatless, soaring (fifty-foot-high) chair for the spirit.
219
composure
// I recovered some of my composure. “Excuse me,” I said, “but I’ve been here for a month. We’ve been working so hard every day. We created this entire thing. Why didn’t you tell me this the first day?”
220
incense
| ˈɪnsɛns/
// The preparations were elaborate. They made cakes, lit incense everywhere, rang bells, said prayers continuously for four hours.
// locals are incensed at the suggestion
: ладан, кадило
: perfume with incense or a similar fragrance
: make very angry
221
shambles
// The Dayton Agreements had ended the Bosnian war several years before, but what had once been Yugoslavia was in shambles.
222
entirety
// One poem from the book, in its entirety.
223
refurbish
// I was refurbishing a traditional wooden house, over a hundred years old, into a kind of inn.
224
inn
// I was refurbishing a traditional wooden house, over a hundred years old, into a kind of inn.
225
vacillate
// The passage of time vacillates and I’m living ten minutes further into the future than everyone else.
226
tchotchkes
// When I got back to Binnenkant 21 from Japan, I found little toys and tchotchkes that she’d bought on the street placed all over the stark white interior of my big house.
227
stark
// When I got back to Binnenkant 21 from Japan, I found little toys and tchotchkes that she’d bought on the street placed all over the stark white interior of my big house.
228
forge
// During this talk, our father showed him that he had forged the signatures of my brother and me on his will so he could disinherit us and leave all his money and property, what there was of it, to his stepson.
229
disinherit
// During this talk, our father showed him that he had forged the signatures of my brother and me on his will so he could disinherit us and leave all his money and property, what there was of it, to his stepson.
230
elusive
// Though we had now been apart for nearly as long as we’d been together, reconciliation was elusive, to say the least.
231
resent
// He would sell our work, sometimes to people I didn’t like, sometimes at a discount that I hadn’t agreed upon.. He would show the work in crappy galleries. I resented all of it, deeply.
232
crappy
// He would sell our work, sometimes to people I didn’t like, sometimes at a discount that I hadn’t agreed upon.. He would show the work in crappy galleries. I resented all of it, deeply.
233
underwrite
// Peppler had even helped to underwrite Balkan Baroque at the Biennale after Montenegro pulled out.
234
commute
// In 2000, before Paolo and I moved to New York, I was visiting the city, and Klaus Biesenbach—who himself had started to commute to New York from Berlin in 1996 to work as a curator at MoMA PS1—invited me to his birthday party.
235
complacency
| /kəmˈpleɪs(ə)nsi/
// In it Terence Stamp plays a mysterious man called The Visitor who arrives at the home of a haute-bourgeois Italian family and seduces everyone in the house—the mother, the father, the son, the daughter, and the maid—and brings them out of their depression and complacency into a state of religious revelation.
: a feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements
: самовдоволення
236
candlelit
// She knew my country well, having lived in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war, when she directed a production of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in a candlelit theater, winning the affection and gratitude of many in that besieged city.
237
besieged
// She knew my country well, having lived in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war, when she directed a production of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in a candlelit theater, winning the affection and gratitude of many in that besieged city.
238
cockpit
// Once, the story goes, Pilot Baba was flying Nehru to Pakistan when he had a spiritual experience: he saw a giant hand in the cockpit pushing him back. He turned the plane around and returned to Delhi. All the other aircraft accompanying them were shot down by the Pakistanis.
: a compartment for the pilot, and sometimes also the crew, in an aircraft or spacecraft
: the driver's compartment in a racing car
: a space for the helmsman in some small yachts
: a place where a battle or other conflict takes place
239
carving
// Each platform would be connected to the floor by a ladder—only the ladders would have sharp carving knives, blades up, in place of rungs.
240
rungs
// Each platform would be connected to the floor by a ladder—only the ladders would have sharp carving knives, blades up, in place of rungs.
241
illegible
| /ɪˈlɛdʒɪb(ə)l/
// ...my mother had an obsession with plastic bags—she refused to ever throw a single one out. She would wash them and reuse them, then wash them again, over and over until the printing on them became illegible.
// his handwriting is totally illegible
: not clear enough to be read; unreadable
242
doom
// The boy sang a song about love, and the girl sang about death—the story of a little yellow flower, alive and beautiful now, but doomed to die as soon as spring is over.
