Part two continues Gregory's experiences with hairdressers well into his older age, still as unpleasant as ever. Those who cut his hair still insist on carrying on mundane conversations with their victims, and Gregory never gets accustomed to it. "So, Gregory Cartwright, give us an account of your life so far." In reply, he says he has stopped being afraid of religion and barbers. He still hates looking at the back of his head in the mirror. He figures that if one day a barber "clipped a swastika into his nape he would probably have pretended to approve."

"Knowing French" follows an 81-year-old woman who begins a correspondence with an author, which turns out to be mutually enriching. In "Appetite," a woman reads recipes to her sick husband. In "The Things You Know," two women get together regularly for tea and reminisce about their younger days, when their husbands were so attentive to them — yet each knows something about the other's spouse that creates doubt about the veracity of the stories. Maybe both Merrill and Janice are better off with their husbands dead.

The 11 stories are realistically rendered, often with prickly language and an unmistakable gift for description, making Julian Barnes a memorable writer.

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