"Fragmentary writing is, ultimately, democratic writing. Each fragment enjoys an equal distinction. Even the most banal finds exceptional reader. Each, in turn, has its hour of glory. Of course, each fragment could become a book. But the point is that it will not do so, for the ellipse is superior to the straight line..." This latest work in the Cool Memories series is culled from Baudrillard's notebooks in the period when he was composing The Illusion of the End and The Perfect Crime. It is a work of meditations and poetic musings which alight briefly and tantalisingly on: the silent wisdom and wit of objective processes, of the world and the emptiness of our political, artistic and scientific scenes; Europe, the Eastern bloc, Australia and New York; life, the universe and the stubborn non-meaning of everything.