That's a problem that's been bugging me for quite a while. After a severe brain overload, trying to figure out how it could be both the best and worst of times, I just quit trying to anylize it :), it seemed slightly oxymoronic :). Maybe that "die" function is why I can never get past the first line of the book in order to finish it, or even get started :), hahahaha :). Anyway, excellent job, I'm thinking there should be a new node added to Perl Monks called something like "Perl Literature" and release Perl programmers on classic literature :).