“The room had never meant anything to her, of course, but in general the bedrooms of single men had a certain seedy danger even when kept orderly, and appointed with good eighteenth-century furniture.” – 43
“That’s the definition of being not haunted, by the way: being able to live in the moment without having either to lust for the future or to dread it.” – 221
“Every unmarried man of a certain age is presumed to be gay these days. Lots of married men too for that matter. I wouldn’t so much mind the presumption of it if a gay man would ask me out on a date, but since I don’t register on their meters as of particular merit I just blunder my way through parties, hunting for the nearest kid or grandparent or household pet to befriend.” – 222
“Poetry is all charms and promises. The impossible journey made possible. In poetry maybe you can get to the holy city and back again, even before it’s time to sleep. But it’s not really true. You can’t get anywhere but to the slow understanding of how, every day, you die, until there’s nothing left to die and you are dead.” – 315