“They's a lot of no-good sonofabitches out there."Arvin asks, "More than a hundred?"Willard laughed a little and put the truck in gear. "Yeah, at least that many.”

“Unless he had whiskey running through his veins, Willard came to the clearing every morning and evening to talk to God. Arvin didn't know which was worse, the drinking or the praying. As far back as he could remember, it seemed that his father had fought the Devil all the time.”

“A lot of people get the wrong impression, think there's something romantic or tragic about hitting bottom.”

“The Oxys filled holes in me I hadn't realized were empty. It was, at least for those first few months, a wonderful way to be disabled. I felt blessed.”

“He imagined the door to a sad, empty room closing with a faint click, never to be opened again, and that calmed him a little.”

“Look, girls don't care how many push-ups you can do. They just want to get high and wear flowers in their hair. Maybe steal a car.”

“I don't know,' Del said. 'I read this book. I guess you could say we were looking for a better life.''Did you find it?' the Fish Stick Girl asked.'No, it was just a goddamn book. I ain't read one since.”