girls forbidden to dance would only attract husbands with bad complexions and sunken chests.

But maybe the Charm Bracelets understood more about life than I did. From an early age they knew what little value the world placed in books, and so didn't waste their time with them. Whereas I, even now, persist in believing that these black marks on white paper bear the greatest significance, that if I keep writing, I might be able to catch the rainbow of consciousness in a jar.

That was the deal basically: catatonia without; frenzy within

I wanted to be an actor. My parents were not too keen on that.

In Madeleine's face was a stupidity Mitchell had never seen before. It was the stupidity of all normal people. It was the stupidity of the fortunate and the beautiful, of everybody who got what they wanted in life and so remained unremarkable.

Their desire was silent yet magnificent, like a thousand daisies attuning their faces toward the path of the sun.

I think, especially when you're in college, each book that you're reading tends to tell you who you are.