"I was an adult before I realized how cynical my grandfather's observation was, his summer reduced to a single day; autumn to a third-rate mix of carnival rides, evil-smelling animals, mud and manure; Thanksgiving reduced to an obligatory carnivorous act, a 'foul consumption,' he termed it; the rest Winter, capitalized."
Chap. 1, p. 5

"Until I was six I thought of my father the way I thought of 'my heavenly father,' whose existence was a matter of record, but who was, practically speaking, absent and therefore irrelevant."
Chap. 1, p. 6

"Then he added, 'Except for you, Ned. You're a wonder.' His favorite observation, the strongest evidence I had in favor of simplemindedness in my friend."
Chap. 5, p. 50

"It occurred to me that summer, from my perch in Myrtle Park, that there might be any number of corrugated shacks in my personal future, but no jeweled houses."
Chap. 7, p...