LEARNING TO APPRECIATE A ROLLS-ROYCE: “I asked Rolls to lend me a Ghost (the version I drove costs $352,000, while the higher-end Phantom will set you back even more) to find out whether someone like me—the last car I owned was a 1995 Saturn compact with a broken second gear—could appreciate the artisanal dedication that goes into creating a palace on wheels. And indeed I could. Almost instantly. After the Ghost got dropped off in front of my apartment and I was left on my own, I tried to start up the engine. Turned out it was already running. It was so nearly silent, the vibration so damped, I’d just assumed it was off.”