And what did you do last night, Dexter? Oh, I played with my dolls while a friend chopped up my sister.

It really is better to be lucky than to be good.

The key to a happy life is to have accomplishments to be proud of and purpose to look forward to, and at the moment I had both. How wonderful it was to be me.

Of course it was a terrible thing, and the world would be a much better place without someone in it who could do that, but did that mean we had to miss lunch?

A reasonable being might think that he and I could find some common ground; have a cup of coffee and compare our Passengers, exchange trade talk and chitchat about dismemberment techniques. But no: Doakes wanted me dead. And I found it difficult to share his point of view.

It revealed a cruelty that really made one wonder if the universe was such a good idea after all.

I enjoyed watching good-looking idiots looking at each other. A great spectator sport.