Dennis holds
    the record for the longest conversation in the phone marathon game.  He had once picked out a
    woman "who lived alone and was desperate to talk to anyone".  Dennis told the lady
    that he was calling because he had heard that she gave good advice, and he had a problem
    concerning a "hideous skin disease" which was certain to lead to his death if he did
    not find a cure.  According to Dennis, a rat had bitten off his nose when he was a baby, and
    skin grafts had not taken.  Dennis had been able to keep the woman discussing his problem on the
    phone for two hours and twenty-six minutes, which was the record for the longest conversation in
    the game.
The phone marathon is a game that John, Lorraine, Dennis, and
    Norton sometimes play when they are bored.  They take turns closing their eyes as they run their
    fingers down the phone book, and they must call the number at which they randomly stop and try
    to keep the person they call engaged in conversation for as long as they can.  On Wednesdays,
    the group can play at Dennis' house because his parents are not home, and on Sundays they use
    the phone at Norton's place because his parents do not mind if they gather at his house.  John
    and Lorraine's houses are off-limits for the game because both their parents have issues with
    their children tying up the phone in this manner.
It is Lorraine who chooses
    the Pigman's name from the phonebook during a game of phone marathon.  She had actually cheated
    a little bit, peaking when she was going through the book; she had chosen the Pigman because he
    lived on nearby Howard Street, and she had already thought up a ruse by which she could start up
    a conversation with him (Chapters 3-4).
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