"He tried to give his wife pleasure in little ways, because he had come to realize, after nearly two decades together, how often he disappointed her in the big things. It was never intentional. They simply had very different notions of what ought to take up most space in life" (Chapter 1, p. 6).

"It was his first lie, and he turned his eyes away from his wife as he told it. She remembered his big protective arm around Mary's shaking shoulders: He'll be OK...he'll be OK" (Part I, p. 10).

"Birth and death: there was the same consciousness of heightened existence and of her own elevated importance" (Part 1, p. 16).

"Shirley scrolled through the possibilities, her mild eyes rolling up and down, wondering to which of these deadly conditions, some of them unpronounceable, she owed her present happiness" (Part I, p. 18).

"Ah," said Howard. "Well, now. That's the question, isn't...