"They stared at each other for almost a minute, and neither moved. Then he said in a voice that was higher than his usual voice, 'What I mean to have you know is: I am no Goddam preacher.'"
Page 18

"'Now I just want to give you folks a few reasons why you can trust this church,' he said. 'In the first place, friends, you can rely on it that it's nothing foreign connected with it. You don't have to believe nothing you don't understand and approve of.' "
Page 86

"Once he had been beaten up in the park by some strange boys when his sitter forgot him, but he hadn't known anything was going to happen that time until it was over."
Page 158

"In the darkness, Mr. Shiflet's smile stretched like a weary snake waking up by a fire."
Page 179

"The sun was going down and...