“His words sounded foolish to his own ears. He was not impressive. He was small like the world.”

“The more the words of others impressed him with their factual content, the more he felt he must wait for his own facts before being tempted into words.”

“Throw up" Victor said.Bacteria, he believed, would run up his arms and gain access to his brain through his ear canals. "Vomit. Puke. Spew. Disgorge. Regorge. Discharge- like excrement.""Victor, stop it!" Doll snapped. "You're making me nauseous.""Talk--vomit words. Sound and sound alike," he said.”

“To hide her relief, Laura stepped forward and embraced her daughter. 'My poor darling. He's not worth weeping over. If he doesn't appreciate a girl like you...' But, even to her own ears, the words sounded quaint. What man ever warranted the tears shed on his behalf?”

“Menyara's Creole accent was as thick as his mother's jar of refrigerated roux, and Nick loved the sound of it.He wasn't quite as pleased with his own. No matter how hard he tried to hide his accent, it always came out in certain words like "praline", "etouffee", "pecan", and any time he lost his temper. You could easily tell how mad he was by how Cajun he sounded. And if he started spewing all Cajun words, duck.”

“You dress to impress," I said approvingly."No, Angel." He leaned in, his teeth softly grazing my ear. "I undress to impress.”