“In a library in Missouri that was covered with vinesLived thousands of books in a hundred straight linesA boy came in at half past nineEvery Saturday, rain or shineHis book selections were clan-des-tine.”

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vinesLived twelve little girls in two straight linesIn two straight lines they broke their breadAnd brushed their teeth and went to bed.They left the house at half past nineIn two straight lines in rain or shine-The smallest one was Madeline.”

“-And there's this twelve thousand dollars item for books.-That supposed to be twelve hundred, the twelve thousand is for paper.towels. Besides there is already that bequest for the library.-Did it say books in so many words? No. It's just a bequest for the library.-Use it for pegboard. You need pegboard in a library. Books you don't know what you're getting into.”

“Books which are books are all that you want, and there are but half a dozen in any thousand.”

“OKAY. So I was going to the library every Saturday. So what? So what? It's not like I was reading books or anything.”

“In the University library he wandered through the stacks, among the thousands of books, inhaling the musty odor of leather, cloth, and drying page as if it were an exotic incense.”