“Never in his unlimited lifespan had he ever allowed anyone to call him anything but President Gorlax. Even when he was a fledgling, and not even a president. The other kids hated him for it. He had them killed.”

“Got any new ways to torture and kill people?”“Hmmm,” said the voice. “Did you try stabbing them?”“Of course. That’s one oh one stuff.”“Shooting?’“With extreme prejudice.”“Burning?”“Yes.”“Strangling?”“Naturally, I mean, I strangle people while I’m sleeping, even.”“Crushing?’“Sure.”“Mangling?”“All the time.”“Hmmmm. Can we think aboutthis?”

“Vreal filed away digital copies in triplicate, four analog copies, threw two copies away, shredded one, and finally, ate another. He was rather compulsive.”

“On Gortician, a promotion was survival. Firings were literal. You were incinerated, and your successor’s first job was sweeping your ashes up for Ned’s AtomicDustbin, Gortician’s recycle center.”

“On the night he died - he was twenty-seven - Basquiat had been planning to see a Run-DMC show. When people asked him what his art was about, he'd hit them with the same three words: "Royalty, heroism, and the streets.”

“Stare at him," said Ghost. "They won't bite you if you keep staring at them."Steve backed away. "They bite?"Not really. They hiss at you, mostly. The only time geese are ever dangerous is when you happen to be standing on the edge of a cliff. I heard about a guy that almost got killed that way."By geese?"Yeah, there was a whole flock of them coming after him. All hissing and cackling and stabbing at his ankles with their big ol' beaks. He didn't know you had to stare them right in the eye, and he panicked. They backed him right over a fifty-foot cliff."So how come he didn't die?"This guy had wings," said Ghost. "He flew away.”

“I wrote this [Most Kings] before MJ died, and his death only proves my point: When he was alive, the King of Pop, people were tireless in taking him down, accepting as truth every accusation people made against him, assuming the worst until they drove him away. When he died, suddenly he was beloved again - people realized that the charges against him might really have been bogus, and that the skin lightening was really caused by a disease, and that his weirdness was part of his artistry. But when he was alive and on top, they couldn't wait to bring him down.”