“South Richmond was a neighborhood of mouse holes, lace curtains, Sears catalogs, measles epidemics, baloney sandwiches- and men who knew more about the carburetor than they knew about the clitoris.”

“There have been cans of dog food more splendiferous than South Richmond. Land mines more tender.”

“There is something rather sexy about men who knew exactly what they are talking about. Men who might not be conventionally attractive, but who are obviously highly competent at their jobs.”

“It seemed the more I knew about people the more I knew about the strange magic hidden in their hearts.”

“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.”

“I understood about fear. And I knew better than anyone in that room what Mouse was capable of. But still I had been raised in a place where to show your fear was worse than cowardice. It was suicide, a sin.”