X
Xanadu (Citizen Kane):
“Here, on the deserts
of the Gulf coast, a
private mountain
was commissioned
and successfully
built. One hundred
thousand trees,
twenty thousand
tons of marble are
the ingredients of
Xanadu’s mountain.
Contents of Xanadu’s palace: paintings, pictures, statues, the very stones
of many another palace — a collection
of everything so big
it can never be cata-
loged or appraised;
enough for ten museums; the loot of
the world. Xanadu’s
livestock: the fowl
of the air, the fish of
the sea, the beast of
the field and jungle.
Two of each; the
biggest private zoo
since Noah. Like
the Pharaohs, Xanadu’s landlord leaves
many stones to mark
his grave. Since the
Pyramids, Xanadu is
the costliest monument a man has built
to himself.”