“This was my one brush with love. Was it love? It felt awful enough. I spent another two years crawling around in the skin of it, smoking too much and growing too thin and having stray thoughts of jumping from my balcony like a tortured heroine in a Russian novel.”

“My nerves needed a break, not a reminder of how much trouble we were in. I prowled around, but it didn't help. I still felt like my skin was on too tight.”

“I'm tempted to shove one of my romance novels up your ass"- P.J. said sharply"But I love my books too much to desecrate them like that. I'll settle for my boot.”

“I know it's not strictly sex that accounts for my straying the motive usually attributed to men. I think it's just too tempting to have two lives rather than one. Some people think that too much travel begets infidelity: Separation and opportunity test the bonds of love. I think it's more likely that people who hate to make choices to settle on one thing or another are attracted to travel. Travel doesn't beget a double life. The appeal of the double life begets travel.”

“I have spent years of my life lovingly absorbed in the thoughts and perceptions of . . . people who do not exist.”

“Mom always said too much chocolate is like having too much love—you can't get enough.”