“That man was Aldus Manutius the Elder (1450-1515) and I will happily admit I hadn't heard of him until about a year ago, but am now absolutely kicking myself that I never volunteered to have his babies.”

“It is now the fall of my second year in Paris. I was sent here for a reason I have not yet been able to fathom. I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive. A year ago, six months ago, i thought I was an artist. I no longer think about it. I am. There are no more books to be written, thank God.”

“Until that afternoon in October four years ago, I hadn't known dogs could scream.”

“Many are the stories I have heard about myself. I have mistresses I have never met. When I hear that I am a sodomist and a zoophalist then I shall know that I have reached the high point of fame, but I suppose I can hardly expect such exaltation for many years.”

“I am not in love with you," she said. "It is an infatuation. I have heard of such derangements happening to elderly spinsters.”

“It's so strange to think: A year ago today, I was undoing my husband. Now I am almost done reassembling him.”