And then she frowned, and shook her head, then put her arms around him once more, pressing her face into his shoulder, making a noise that sounded almost like rage. 'What's up?' he asked. 'Nothing. Oh, nothing. Just...' She looked up at him. 'I thought I'd finally got rid of you.' 'I don't think you can.' he said

She wondered if she was doomed to be one of those people who spend their lives trying things.

And they did have fun, though it was of different kind now. All that yearning and passion had been replaced by a steady pulse of pleasure and satisfaction and occasional irritation, and this seemed to be a happy exchange; if there had been moments in her life when she had been more elated, there had never been a time when things had been more constant.

No matter how predictable, banal and listless the rest of my life might be, you can guarantee that there'll always be something interesting going on with my skin.

A joke was not a single-use item but something you brought out again and again until it fell apart in your hand like a cheap umbrella.

The fact was I loved my wife to a degree that I found impossible to express, and so rarely did.

As a matter of fact, I think there are more things important in life than "relationships.