She owned many things that he admired: a squirrel coat with a black taffeta lining, a pair of carved soapstone bookends that held some books of poetry on her night table, her collection of Louis Armstrong 78s. ("A Vintage Thunderbird," pg. 29.)

"What she really had in mind was the little sailing boat in the North Sea, with its crew young and beautiful" ("Talk of Heroes," pg. 68.)

"He had been perfectly gentle and polite. She hadn't felt angry, or even perfunctory. There was just something in men which seemed to demand it now" ("The Darling," pg. 73.)

"...afternoon was absinthe yellow and almond, burnt orange and chrysanthemum. And in the abstract sky, a litany of kites" ("Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta," pg. 93.)

"My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn't feel like I was inside anything" ("Cathedral," pg. 124.)

"He truly believed...