Merlin of the Magnolias

"The linen besuited, white-booted barge of a man moving down the sidewalk was something to see, but the addition of the broad-brimmed straw fedora out of which protruded small antennae in four directions constituted another level of the unusual. The sight, augmented with Merlin’s curious sidelong gait and frequent adjustment of knobs and rheostats alongside the hat’s brim, would have been enough to induce in a hypothetical new-kid-on-the-block observer momentary catatonia, if not mild terro...