The moment I decided to leave him, the moment I thought, enough, we were thirty-five thousand feet above the ocean, hurtling forward but giving the illusion of stillness and tranquility. Just like our marriage, I could have said.
-- Joan (Narration) (chapter 1)

Importance: These lines of narration appear at the very beginning of the novel. These sentences not only establish the primary relationship and perspective of the novel, but they also establish Joan's tone of personal bitterness. These elements all prepare the reader for Joan's novel-length accounting of the dysfunctional history of her relationship with Joe.

As a rule, the men who own the world are hyperactively sexual, though not necessarily with their wives.
-- Joan (Narration) (chapter 1)

Importance: In this line of narration, Joan indicates her husband's high social status, and she also subtly begins to allude to his history of marital infidelity. Moreover, this quotation draws a connection between male privilege and male unscrupulousness, which is a connection...