- Jack describes the cool robe he gets to wear at work because he's the head of a department. He likes his colleagues well enough, but doesn't want to hang out with them away from work. The one exception is a strange guy named Murray Siskind, whom Jack likes more than the others.
- Murray talks to Jack about why he's happy to live in a small town. He needs to get away from all of the romantic entanglements that he left behind in New York City. Judging by DeLillo's physical description of Murray, you might wonder if he's been involved with as many women as he says he has.
- After telling Jack how much he admires the Hitler Studies program, Murray invites Jack to go see a tourist trap outside of town called "The Most Photographed Barn in America." When they get to the barn, Murray uses the opportunity to rant about how a barn can't be just a barn anymore in modern America. There's always some angle that advertisers are trying to make you see the world from, even if those advertisers are just a couple of folks on the side of the highway.