I was also ready to believe, though, that whatever good things I had managed to set upright could topple at any second.

I might not remember how the sky looked on any given day. I do remember, though, what it was like to be a boy beneath a sky.

I don't think our lives actually unfold with morals attached to them, or meanings that are easily extracted, or jokes designed to generate sympathy. I wanted to do the opposite - to offer up a life whose meanings can only be perceived through a tangle of desires, confusions, and textural details.

What I wanted was to write a memoir that was immersive rather than reflective, to resurrect a long-gone version of my own consciousness. I kept expecting that sooner or later the effort would come to seem like second nature to me, but it never did.

I had always been the kind of boy who was quick to laugh and quick to cry.

I write out of gratitude for all the books I have loved over the years.

With every sentence she writes, Davis freshens the senses. Her novels achieve a tone that’s unlike anyone else’s, creating an atmosphere you don’t so much interpret as breathe.