“A great gift would be a map full of evacuation routes for the city, subtly telling the recipient to get the hell out of town.”
“They’re evacuating the younger kids and everyone’s meeting in the Great Hall to get organized. We’re fighting.”
“Teaching is a gift for both the recipient and the teacher.”
“I resolve to venture into the city on my own. I look at maps in the library—subway maps, bus maps, and regular maps—and try to memorize them. I’m afraid of getting lost; no, I’m afraid of sinking into the city as in a quicksand, afraid of getting sucked into something I can never escape.”
“[Cities] are not like suburbs, only denser. They differ from towns and suburbs in basic ways, and one of these is that cities are, by definition, full of strangers.”
“Shall I show him in or tell him to go find a short and unpleasant route to hell?”