God is most proud of creation as an aesthetic thing.
-- Narrator (Part One)

Importance: At the start of the novel, the third person narrator begins the narrative with a subversive version of the Biblical creation myth. In this version of the Genesis story, God is an artist and a painter. The universe is his artwork. The narrator asserts that because God values aesthetic over everything else, he has made a flawed version of the world, in which fairness, unity, and peace are elusive notions. This moment introduces the author's explorations regarding art and artistry, as well as her interrogations of faith, religion, and spirituality.

It was just the desire to have something so special, so glowing, and entirely her own.
-- Narrator (Part One)

Importance: When Mira first starts working at the lamp store, she falls in love with one particular lamp. Although she sees the lamp as beautiful, it is the least expensive piece in the store. Mira...