Part of the trick of being happy is a refusal to allow oneself to become too nostalgic for the heady triumphs of one's youth.

It's a fine world, though rich in hardships at times.

From him to the stars, in all directions, there was only silence and emptiness.

Death and worse happened on the plains.

The tradition I was born into was essentially nomadic, a herdsmen tradition, following animals across the earth. The bookshops are a form of ranching; instead of herding cattle, I herd books. Writing is a form of herding, too; I herd words into little paragraph-like clusters.

Live through it," Call said. "That's all we can do.

Call saw that everyone was looking at him, the hands and cowboys and townspeople alike. The anger had drained out of him, leaving him feeling tired. He didn't remember the fight, particularly, but people were looking at him as if they were stunned. He felt he should make some explanation, though it seemed to him a simple situation. "I hate a man that talks rude," he said. "I won't tolerate it.