Cinema Verite

William Makepeace Thackeray Follows his Bliss

The Fairfield County fair in lancaster, Ohio. Shots of Thackeray on the Ferris Wheel, the bumper cars, at the livestock auction, drinking beer at the demolition derby. Cut to Thackeray at the concession stand.

Thackeray: I can't make up my mind between Elephant Ears and a chili dog.
Concessionaire: Oh, go ahead, Mr. Thackeray, get both. You deserve it.
Thackeray: You're right! What the hell, Elephant Ears and chili dogs for everyone! They're on me!
Assembled passersby [in chorus]: Oh boy! Thank you, William Makepeace Thackeray, possessor of one of the strangest middle names in history!

The fair comes to a halt as Thackeray is lifted and carried through the streets of Lancaster...

---Tom Andrews, Models of the Universe: an anthology o f the prose poem (1995)