This reminded him of Alvis Bender's contention that stories were like nations - Italy, a great epic poem, Britain, a thick novel, America, a brash motion picture in technicolor...
This is what happens when you live in dreams, he thought: you dream this and you dream that and you sleep right through your life. He needed coffee.
Sometimes, she said, what we want to do and what we must do are not the same. She put a hand on his shoulder. Pasqo, the smaller the space between your desire and what is right, the happier you will b...
Sometimes, now, when she sees how content Pat and Lydia are, she feels like a spent salmon: her work here is done. But other times, honestly, the whole idea of being at peace just pisses her off. At p...
Sometimes what we want to do and what we must do are not the same. Pasquo, the smaller the space between your desire and what is right, the happier you will be.
People can handle an unjust world; it’s when the world becomes arbitrary and inexplicable that order breaks down.
Pasquale’s eyes felt heavy and he thought it might be the most intimate thing possible, to fall asleep next to someone in the afternoon.
Os hospitais tentam vender centros de parto, os infantários vendem amor, as escolas vendem sucesso... os vendedores de carros promovem o luxo, os conselheiros a autoestima, as massagistas oferecem fin...
Oh, the things she would say if she could--but it's a minefield of courtesies and manners, this dying business.
He found himself inhabiting the vast, empty plateau where most people live, between boredom and contentment.
And if a moment exists only in one’s perception anyway, then perhaps the rush of feeling he has now is THE MOMENT, and not merely its shadow. Maybe every moment occurs at once, and they will always be...
After she disappeared inside the hotel, Pasquale entertained the unwieldy thought that he’d somehow summoned her, that after years of living in this place, after months of grief and loneliness and wai...
And now there are two distinct phases to sex with Daryl: the first two minutes like an exam from an autistic gynecologist, the next ten a visit from the Roto-Rooter man.
Has anyone ever been more lovesick than a zombie, that pale, dull metaphor for love, all animal craving and lurching, outstretched arms, his very existence a sonnet about how much he wants those brain...
Some memories remain close; you can shut your eyes and find yourself back in them. But there are second-person memories, too, distant you memories, and these are trickier: you watch yourself in disbel...
Rather, he found himself inhabiting the vast, empty plateau where most people live, between boredom and contentment.
Pasquale considered his friend’s face. It had such an open quality, was such a clearly American face, like Dee’s face, like Michael Deane’s face. He believed he could spot an American anywhere by that...
I think so, too. I know I felt that way. For years. It was as if I was a character in a movie and the real action was about to start at any minute. But I think some people wait forever, and only at th...
Go with it. Be confident and the world responds to your confidence, rewards your faith.
A writer needs four things to achieve greatness, Pasquale: desire, disappointment, and the sea. That’s only three. Alvis finished his wine. You have to do disappointment twice.