She was now plagued with a hefty boredom and the melancholy of finishing an excellent book—a biography of John Wesley Powell—and had nothing new to read.
-- Narrator (Book 1)

Importance: The author introduces Luz as someone who, from the very beginning, finds great comfort in reading books, specifically biographies about explorers and geologists like Powell. She keeps her books with her throughout the rest of the novel.

The prospect of Mother Nature opening her legs and inviting Los Angeles back into her ripeness was, like the disks of water shimmering in the last foothill reservoirs patrolled by the National Guard, evaporating daily.
-- Narrator (Book 1)

Importance: This quotation captures how an anthropomorphic characterization of nature has abandoned humanity. This is how the drought that has overtaken California is described.

We break ground today so that there will be fresh water for drinking, irrigation and recreation waiting for Baby Dunn and her children.
-- A Senator (Book 1)

Importance: This quotation is taken...