Good critical writing is measured by the perception and evaluation of the subject; bad critical writing by the necessity of maintaining the professional standing of the critic.

She was kind of girl who'd eat all your cashews and leave you with nothing but peanuts and filberts.

The plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men.

I guess God made Boston on a wet Sunday.

He snorted and hit me in the solar plexus. I bent over and took hold of the room with both hands and spun it. When I had it nicely spinning I gave it a full swing and hit myself on the back of the head with the floor.

You can have a hangover from other things than alcohol. I had one from women.

One would think a writer would be happy here — if a writer is ever happy anywhere.