"When the brass band on the shore strikes up the jaunty mazurka rhythms of the Polish anthem, I am pierced by a youthful sorrow so powerful that I suddenly stop crying and try to hold still against the pain."
Page 4

"No matter how many accoutrements of middle-class life they'll later acquire, my parents never quite buy into the work ethic."
Page 15

"My father almost never mentions the war; dignity for him is silence, sometimes too much silence."
Page 23

"Like so many children who read a lot, I begin to declare rather early that I want to be a writer."
Page 28

"I gradually come to understand that it is a matter of honor to affirm my Jewishness and to do so with my head held high."
Page 33

"It never occurs to my parents, or to us, that our apartment may be too crowded or that we may be suffering...