“Momma crossed her arms over her apron bib and worked the small of her back against the edge of the doorframe. Daddy drew a Tareyton out of the pack in his shirtpocket and looked straight at me and talked straight at Momma and said, “Madness.”

“According to Daddy, that was a time of general lunacy in Neely, but then Daddy has always said there's nothing like a good snowfall to bring out the feeble-mindedness in people. ”

“The man dabbed briefly at his lip with his bloody sleeve end and then cocked back his head and laughed. The sound was sharp and joyless and desperate.”

“It's a chore for a fellow to fear for his life more than once in an evening.”

“The husk of a man in the woods below me bled into a creek that fed into a river that sparkled gaily in the winter sun.”

“a helplessly devoted student of human frailty”

“He was accustomed to paying measurable heed only to those details that bore upon him most directly.”