“Poverty is a great equalizer”

“I'm here to tell you, separate was never equal.”

“She was pondering the option of law school, the great American baby-sitter for directionless postgrads.”

“And they drank heavily, partied with great enthusiasm, and relished the drug culture; they moved in and out and slept around, and this was okay because they defined their own morality. They were fighting for the Mexicans and the redwoods, dammit! They had to be good people!”

“Once again I had asked an innocent question, and because of it, I was banished from the conversation.”

“I was tired of secrets, tired of seeing things I was not supposed to see. And so I just cried.”

“In little pockets of conversation, old men were telling stories of ancient floods. Women were talking of about how much rain there'd been in other towns -- Paragould, Lepanto, and Manila.”