It was a suburban street, one block long, the houses made of brick and built to last like the third little pig’s.
-- Narration (1, "Body-without-Soul")

Importance: This line of narration is the very first line of the book. This narration describes the town and the street in almost idyllic terms. This sense of normalcy and serenity then clashes with the novel's various elements of surrealism and emotional distress, thereby asserting the idea that peaceful facades can often hide strange and distressing realities.

[The sorcerer] had been with a woman he left to be with [Marjorie], and another woman before that, and before that many other women...He was just having difficulty finding the right woman.
-- Narration (1, "Body-without-Soul")

Importance: This line of narration states that the sorcerer has had romantic relationships with many women. The sorcerer claims that he is not a womanizer, but that he simply has not found the right woman with whom to settle...