“She was downstairs now in the living room watching TV' with a mug of hot chocolate and a fried egg and pineappelpineappel?yes pineappel- sandwich.”

“She's not dead, Henry kept telling himself. But her life, all lives, seemed tenuous when he saw how quickly, with what ease, all the trappings, all the fine details of a lifetime could be packed and scattered, or junked.”

“It took a day to dismantle Lily's existence . . .striking the set of a play, humble, one-handed domestic drama, without permission from the cast. . . But her life, all lives, seemed tenuous when he saw how quickly, with what ease, all the trappings, all the fine details of a lifetime could be packed and scattered, or junked. . . Objects became junk as soon as they were separated from their owner and their pasts . . . As the shelves and drawers emptied, and the boxes and bags filled, he saw that no one owned anything really. It's all rented, or borrowed. Our possessions will outlast us, we'll desert them in the end.”

“What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.”

“Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then.”

“I have not lived as a woman. I have lived as a man. I've just done what I damn well wanted to, and I've made enough money to support myself, and ain't afraid of being alone.”

“Wouldn't it be great if people could get to live suddenly as often as they die suddenly?”