He’s the guy who wrote Carnovsky. Didn't you read about it in the papers? He just made a million bucks and he’s taking the bus.
-- A stranger (chapter 1)

Importance: A stranger says this to Zuckerman in the opening scene in the novel. The comment helps to establish Zuckerman’s newfound fame and monetary success, as well as the fact that strangers feel comfortable commenting to Zuckerman when they see him on the street. Moreover, the fact that Zuckerman is riding on the bus despite his newfound wealth establishes the fact that he does not wish to change his lifestyle in the face of success.

For depicting Jews in a peep-show atmosphere of total perversion, for depicting Jews in acts of adultery, exhibitionism, masturbation, sodomy, fetishism, and whoremongery.
-- A stranger (chapter 1)

Importance: As Zuckerman recalls many of the letters he has received since his rise to fame, he chooses this quote as representational of the qualms that...