- Publication date
- 1948, 31 January 1948
- first line
- There were ninety‐seven New York advertising men in the hotel, and, the way they were monopolizing the long‐distance lines, the girl in 507 had to wait from noon till almost two‐thirty to get her call through. She used the time, though. She read an article in a women's pocket‐size magazine, called “Sex Is Fun — or Hell.”
- last line
- He glanced at the girl lying asleep on one of the twin beds. Then he went over to one of the pieces of luggage, opened it, and from under a pile of shorts and undershirts he took out an Ortgies calibre 7.65 automatic. He released the magazine, looked at it, then reinserted it. He cocked the piece. Then he went over and sat down on the unoccupied twin bed, looked at the girl, aimed the pistol, and fired a bullet through his right temple.
- title
- A Perfect Day for Bananafish