Their friendship was only one aspect of their lives but it seemed to give meaning to all the others.

But it was smell that carried memory.

Particularly beautiful people were like particularly funny-looking people, though. Once you know them you mostly forgot about it.

Once Paul told her that the beach was like him because it changed every day but it never made any progress. Later she remembered thinking that a normal person might have begun by saying that he was like the beach.

Women always seemed to bring the size they wished they were to the fitting room, rather than the size that would actually fit.

Sometimes you need to make a mess. -Loretta, the Rollinses' hosekeeper

Sex could be a blissful communion,. But it could also be a weapon, and its absence, sometimes, was required for the establishment of peace.