than to really write my thesis. I found myself stuck 
after a six and a half or seven years of useless 
reading of uselessly boring plays from the 18th 
century, trying to write my thesis on the 
decadence of tragic art, and 18th-century  France. 
What a topic! I was really quite unhappy. And again 
this table seems to have played a big role in my life. 
Because I was leaning on it looking very miserable 
and again McLuhan sort of talked to me, as me 
rather than just a student. And said “You look 
very glum today. What’s your problem?” And I said 
“Well my problem is I am going to leave my PhD 
studies. I will never finish this thesis. I can’t stand 
it. I am not going to be able to keep my job, I’ll just