From a reader, noticing that we seem to have misplaced our Musto-English dictionary: "barfy? no, not a word. But used by Michael Cunningham earlier in Musto's column (see below). a frequent Musto device - repeating silly words & phrases used by his subjects." Ah.

"More at home, The Hours author Michael Cunningham told me he loves the film version of his book, though he's sorry the "militant lesbian queer theorist" character, Mary Krull, didn't make it in. Does he like the ending? "Yes! They tried out different endings and even shot a life-affirming one with all the women [from all three plotlines] sitting down and eating together. It was just barfy like How to Make an American Quilt."