“God, you Jews are truly exotic."Exotic? She should only know the Greenblatts. Or Mr. and Mrs. Milton Sharpstein, my father's friends. Or for that matter, my cousin Tovah. Exotic? I mean, they're nice, but hardly exotic with their endless bickering over the best way to combat indigestion or how far back to sit from the television set.”

“Great,' I said. 'Visit exotic Australia. Get bitten by an exotic snake. Die exotically.”

“Cease the bickering! I am indulging the exotic whims of a beautiful princess and must not be distracted.”

“Why? Were you hoping for something more exotic?"My inner goddess pops her head above the parapet."Oh no. I've had enough exotic for one day."Mr inner goddess pouts at me.”

“Calling something exotic emphasizes its distance from the reader. We don’t refer to things as exotic if we think of them as ordinary. We call something exotic if it’s so different that we see no way to emulate it or understand how it came to be. We call someone exotic if we aren’t especially interested in viewing them as people — just as objects representing their culture.”

“The joys of life can be found anywhere. Far places only offer exotic ways to suffer.”