The good news: I passed my American test with flying colors. Not only do I speak excellent American, my knowledge of American history and politics stands at an astonishing 100 percent. I will be naturalized exactly a week from today at 2:00 pm at the INS building. Now for the bad news: I have discovered Richard Wagner by way of the stunning funeral march in Twilight of the Gods. I can’t stop listening to it; nor can I stop reading Hegel or reading about Hegel, and all of this is happening at the very moment I’m becoming an American. As the white Africans of my former country say: Sheesslike, man.