“You first," Tommy said. They stood in the great room of their loft on either side of the futon, where the huge cat, a crossbreed between a Persian, a dust mop, and possibly a water buffalo, was actively shedding.”

“You see, Greg, my mother is going through a feline phase. Blinky is a Persian,' Hale said simply, as if that should explain everything. 'Binky has a nasty habit of shedding all over the living room furniture, you see.' Gregory Wainwright nodded as if he understood perfectly.'And so we had to get new living room furniture, which, unfortunately, does not go with the Monet.'Kat stood there for a moment, staring into that small window of the world where someone would tire of a Monet simply because it clashed with the couch.”

“I want my first son to be called 'Tommy.' It will sound great, Tommy Tomlinson”

“Show me a home where the buffalo roam and I'll show you a dirty living room.”

“But to continue the story of my professional experiences. I made one pound ten and six by my first review; and I bought a Persian cat with the proceeds. Then I grew ambitious. A Persian cat is all very well, I said; but a Persian cat is not enough. I must have a motor car. And it was thus that I became a novelist--for it is a very strange thing that people will give you a motor car if you will tell them a story. It is a still stranger thing that there is nothing so delightful in the world as telling stories. It is far pleasanter than writing reviews of famous novels.”

“Either the kid was naturally hyper or he was hopped up on enough caffeine to give a heart attack to a water buffalo.”