She wasn’t too young to understand that the ones who pleased him were the rare ones who didn’t drain the frothy brew of his myth in a quick quaff, but nosed around the brine o f his humanity awhile, giving it skeptical sniffs.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: Eileen realized that her father liked those who questioned him a bit instead of the majority of his friends who hero-worshipped him.

Sometimes, she thought, life makes you grow up early. And some people never grow up at all.
-- Eileen (Chapter 8)

Importance: As children, both Eileen and Ed suffered from having alcoholic fathers. This quote captures how children are taught to cover for alcoholic parents who are children who misbehave, ruin lives and take no responsibility for the destruction they cause.

She knew it wouldn’t be like this forever; soon she’d make demands on him, expect the world of him. She was going to enjoy this...
-- Eileen (Chapter 11)