At her age, John had already been working for Mike, had his won crew by the time he was thirty…Now kids got a whole extra decade to do—what? Float around, do these internships.
-- Narration ("What Can You Do with a General")

Importance: This line of narration indicates one element of the generational gap between John and his children. John has worked in one professional field for his entire working life, and thus he is somewhat baffled by his children's lack of clear professional ambition. This subject is but one area of unspoken tension between John and his children, as their rapport grows increasingly distant.

…reversals of fortune seemed somehow possible, the world infinitely malleable…
-- Narration ("Menlo Park")

Importance: This line of narration expresses one of Ben's thoughts in "Menlo Park," but its underlying ideas are relevant to most of the stories in the collection. nearly every central character in the collection struggles with some form of adversity, and is struggling to...