“I realized early that unless you're willing to kill the innocent, you can't win.”

“A story untold could be the one that kills you.”

“Losing prepares you for the heartbreak, setback, and the tragedy that you will encounter in the world more than winning ever can. By licking your wounds you learn how to avoid getting wounded the next time.”

“I could bear the memory, but I could not bear the music that made the memory such a killing thing.”

“...I realize words are never enough; they stutter and cleave to the roof of my mouth.”

“As time passed from solstice to mild solstice in those occluded zones of my early childhood, I played beneath the distracted majesty of my mother's blue-eyed gaze. With her eyes on me I felt as if I were being studied by flowers.”

“She was one of those Southerners who knew from an early age that the South could never be more for them than a fragrant prison, administered by a collective of loving but treacherous relatives.”