“But what are they? Annie asked.An omphalos, probably, said Jacob.A what, dear? Melinda asked.A bellybutton of the world.I didnt know it had one.”

“ Im going to be a writer, he reminded Milo. And you wont need literature? Ill write my own.”

“By its nature a relationship was not an accomplishment. It was just a connection that happened to exist, for as long as it did exist.”

“A year ago he had been in America. Two years ago he had been straight. Tonight he was underground, with the remains of the bogey man, lit by the torches of the children who had killed him.”

“I suppose it does come with a certain responsibility.What does? asked Annie.The magnificence of my person.Gah.”

“Crisis the midwife of capitalism. The advisers arrive and say, My god, they have no predatory class here. It is an emergency! We must create one immediately. Let us arrange to give everything to a...”

“Three or four times only in my youth did I glimpse the Joyous Isles, before they were lost to fogs, depressions, cold fronts, ill winds, and contrary tides... I mistook them for adulthood. Assuming...”

“North Korean troops gathering inside North Korea.That is unheard of.""They were massing very close to the border.""North Korea is the size of Ohio. It would be geographically challenging for them t...”

“War does one goodit teaches people geography.”

“There are many things that make a man irritable when he arrives home from work in the evening and a sensible wife will usually notice the storm-signals and will leave him alone until he simmers down.”

“Oblivion, she thought. That was the world she lived in. It was what they should name some countries, towns, and places.”

“A lot of men wouldn't like being called a romantic. It's not macho enough.'Quite often men are fools.”