Though there's an industry built on telling you otherwise, there are few real joys to middle age. The only perk I can see is that, with luck, you'll acquire a guest room.
-- David Sedaris (Company Man)

Importance: These sentences, which are also the first two sentences of the book, situate the narrator and main character, David Sedaris, firmly in time by indicating his stage of life. They also establish the theme of being middle-aged which will resonate throughout the entire book. This quote also indicates David's personal perspective on middle-age: that it's not all it's cracked up to be. It also introduces his trademark sardonic humor by virtue of the idea that the only perk to getting older is acquiring a guest room. At the same time, having a designated guest room also situates the narrator within a particular socio-economic stratum, thus orienting the reader to his stage and position in life.

Doesn't the blood...
-- David Sedaris (Now We Are Five.)