Had CC de Poitiers known she was going to be murdered she might have bought her husband, Richard, a Christmas gift.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: This opening sentence tells the reader right away that CC will be murdered in the course of the novel. It also suggests that if she had known she was going to die, she might have done some things differently, like being nicer to her family members.

They’d all said no, immediately recognizing the manuscript as a flaccid mishmash of ridiculous self-help philosophies, wrapped in half-baked Buddhist and Hindu teachings, spewed forth by a woman whose cover photo looked as though she’d eat her young.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: This quote indicates that CC’s book was terrible. There are multiple words with negative connotations used to describe it. The word “flaccid” indicates the book is lifeless and useless. It is a “mishmash” or jumble of a variety of philosophies and a...