Bennie continues to gage his sexual potency through Sasha, showing his self-centeredness. The conversation about Stop/Go reflects the nature of the music industry, and the way in which changing trends in popular culture leave artists behind. Sasha’s attention to the World Trade Center is a reflection of her own preoccupation with the past. Again the terrorist attack on 9/11 becomes a reflection of ruin in the novel, and speaks to the destruction these characters experience in their own lives. The pause following this conversation is also meaningful, containing pain, memory, and a kind of politeness all at once.