Unlike the protagonist – a maths genius with a distinct voice – my little bro, now nearly 20, can't really speak at all.
He is now nearly blind, can't walk, can barely talk, can't swallow properly, has diabetes and dementia, and last week my mum, his carer, was told she could add gout to the list.
Although this city of nearly six million can't match the thrills of Rio de Janiero or Buenos Aires — and suffers from thick smog that in winter can make it feel as though you're looking through a dirty beer mug — it has recently expanded its cultural offerings.
Most people are nearly amnestic; they can't remember anything for the minutes before they fall asleep.
Nearly all batteries for every 35mm camera ever made can be obtained very cheaply, since they don't use proprietary batteries like most digital cameras, and they last nearly forever; you can't afford to not change them.
Nearly two decades later, "I can't even say I hate the guys who killed him," he said.
Stem cells, which are not used nearly as often, can't be derived from ordinary blood donations.
Or a sobering realization that, nearly 35, he can't keep up with Paul and the five-star point guards cooking out west.
Nearly half of "Can't Find My Way Home" is devoted to the 1960's, when the alliance of drugs and the avant-garde was amplified and converted into a lifestyle project available for mass consumption.
Knight told a Los Angeles court last week he was nearly blind and "can't really comprehend what was going on" inside the courtroom and claimed he was receiving inadequate medical care in prison.
