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    The Threepenny Review

    The Accordion in the Closet

    Dec 01, 2018 4 minutes
    Toni Martin

    HERE’S THE joke. A guy leaves his accordion in the back seat of the car while he’s shopping and returns to find the window smashed.

    “So someone stole the accordion?”

    “No, they left another one.”

    I rarely volunteer that I play the accordion. I’m not ashamed, exactly, but I’ve heard the joke enough. I do think it’s funny, partly because no one ever guesses that I have an accordion in the car. They see a rectangular suitcase and ask if I’m traveling. Accordion players don’t leave their instrument lying around visible and unprotected.

    After the joke, people

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