The origin of the novel lies in its pretense of actuality.
-- The Author (Chapter b, number 30 paragraph 13)

Importance: This quote is taken from the early section of the book in which the text offers a brief overview of the history of writing. The comment here is the basis of much of the text's overall consideration of the nature and qualities of fiction, considered throughout the book in relation to non-fiction.

After Freud, after Einstein, the novel retreated from narrative, poetry retreated from rhyme, and art retreated from the representational into the abstract.”
-- The Text (Lorraine Adams) (Chapter b, number 45)

Importance: The first point to note is that this is one of a great many quotes in the book which the author presents in the text without attribution, but which is correctly attributed in a legally ordered appendix. Such quotes in fact make up the majority of the text, with the author's own-composed material making up a substantially smaller amount of text. The second point to...