God, he misses Nic. Her voice and her neck and even her armpits. They had been stubbly as a cat’s tongue and, at the end of the day, smelled like milk just before it curdles. - P19
"If this were a short story, you and I would be done by now. A small ironic turn and out. That’s why there’s nothing more elegant in the prose universe than a short story, Officer Lambiase. - P22
"You poor man." She crossed the porch and kissed him, leaving a lipstick trace like a bruise. "Your only move is to become a vampire, too. Don’t try to fight it. That’s the absolute worst thing you could do. You gotta be cool, nerd. Invite me in." - P26
After that, oblivion. From his point of view, the evening had been a triumph. His head is pounding. - P29
Tamerlane is like the Honus Wagner of rare books! - P30
"Ismay’s at—" At that moment, A.J. freezes as if someone has pressed the pause button on him. His eyes are blank and his mouth drops open. - P33
For nearly thirty seconds, A.J. is frozen and then he resumes speaking as if nothing has happened. - P33
"Oh Christ. It’s just an absence seizure. I used to have them a lot as a kid. I rarely have them as an adult except when I’m unusually stressed." - P33
"You gotta stop drinking. I gotta stop cheating on Ismay," Daniel says. - P37
As retirement is no longer on the horizon, A.J. reads galleys, returns e-mails, answers the phone, and even writes a shelf talker or two. - P39
But me-also-thinks my latter-day reaction speaks to the necessity of encountering stories at precisely the right time in our lives. Remember, Maya: the things we respond to at twenty are not necessarily the same things we will respond to at forty and vice versa. This is true in books and also in life. - P42
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