And so it is in Haddam, where all around, our summer swoon notwithstanding, there’s a new sense of a wild world being just beyond our perimeter, an untallied apprehension among our residents, one I believe they’ll never get used to, one they’ll die before accommodating. (Chapter 1)

What I thought I had to offer was a deep appreciation for the sense of belonging and permanence the citizens of these streets might totally lack in Haddam (through no fault of their own), yet might long for the way the rest of us long for paradise. (Chapter 2)

I’m briefly bemused by Joe’s belief that I’m a man who believes life’s leading someplace. I have thought that way other times in my life, but one of the fundamental easements of the Existence Period is not letting whether it is or whether it isn’t worry you—as loony as... (Chapter 2)