“..., her mouth working mutely like the valve of an undersea creature”

“Her mouth tasted of smoke and toothpaste and something feety that made my blood flare”

“I had never liked, even feared a little, this wild reach of marsh and mud flats where everything seemed turned away from the land, looking off desperately toward the horizon as if in mute search for a sign of rescue.”

“This is the only way another creature can be known: on the surface, that's where there is depth.”

“Dogs are dim creatures, do not speak to me of their good sense--have you ever heard of a team of tomcats hauling a sled across the frozen wastes?”

“It seems to me a work of art is the evidence offered by a fantastically observant witness”

“Of the things we fashioned for them that they might be comforted, dawn is the one that works.”