“Joanna has an unmanageable lump in her throat and wonders why it's always the happy memories that make her cry.”

“It begins to dawn on her that she is lackadaisical about other people. They are tremendously important to her for a time and then they are not. She begins to see her life in sections, as separate pockets of time and affiliation.”

“Much of what she found charming and refreshing about him at the outset of their relationship now bugged the hell out of her.”

“For those of us with a bookish bent, reading is a reflexive response to everything. This is how we deal with the world and anything that comes our way. We have always known that there is a book for every occasion and every obsession. When in doubt, we are always looking things up.”

“Did she really remember that day so clearly or was she making it up as she went along?”

“Talking to Clarence can be like talking to a child, although it is much more charming in children.”

“She thought she would do something with them someday, although she could not have said what and in fact she never did.”