“Lolita, Ya Ya” by Sue Lyon

The most recent stage in the metamorphosis of Pete Campbell begins with a car crash. Crashes, really, of all mangled shapes and significance- photos of them projected on the wall of his driver’s education class.

Given the company he keeps, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that he manages to delude himself into considering, aloud, a romantic trip to the New York Botanical Garden with his teenage classmate- Jenny, very much a Dolores Haze figure.

However, achieving Humbert Humbert status so quickly would make it seem like Pete crouched his way through a Super Mario Bros. warp zone…