Why? Why eat, breathe, drink everything French? So that, given time, he might really begin to understand the genius of one man.
-- Narrator (In a Season of Calm Weather paragraph 4)

Importance: George Smith and his wife have gone to vacation in France so that George might better come to understand the world the way his favorite artist, Picasso, does. George’s dream is to own a piece of Picasso’s artwork, but the staggering cost makes this impossible for the time being. Nevertheless, George is undeterred from his admiration for Picasso, and is stunned to find Picasso later that day on the beach, making drawings in the sand.

Wouldn’t it be a fascinating change.
-- Narrator (The Town Where No One Got Off paragraph 4)

Importance: The narrator, who has had a run of bad luck in his life, decides to take a chance for a change and get off at the small town of Rampart Junction, Iowa. The narrator meets an old man who mirrors the narrator in many...