“My first vegetable garden was in a hard-packed dirt driveway in Boulder, Colorado. I was living in a basement apartment there, having jumped at the chance to come out West with a friend in his Volkswagen Bug, fleeing college and inner-city Philadelphia. I was twenty, hungry for experience, and fully intending to be a ski bum in my new life. But it didn’t turn out that way.”

“I pulled my suitcase out of the backseat of my bug, along with Cannoli's new travel case, a spiffy animal print pet backpack on wheels. When I first saw it, I thought maybe the dog was supposed to wear the backpack, but it turned out the person wore the backpack with the dog in it.”

“I never felt the urge to jump off a bridge, but there are times I have wanted to jump out of my life, out of my skin.”

“I didn’t intend it to come out sarcastically, but I guess that’s just where my tone of voice automatically goes these days.”

“There are only two ways to get in and out of an MG Midget sports car – the elegant way or myway. The elegant way is how you see the film stars do it on TV when they arrive at the Oscars. To getin, put your bum inside first and then swivel legs round. Similarly, to exit, swivel legs out, bum last.My way is to get everything but bum in first, leave bum out in the cold for a bit while struggling withother appendages, and then bum can come in. To get out, I simply fall on to the pavement.”

“I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t.”