"Everyone thought it had been a freak accident, a one-time thing in Johnson City. This was a small town in the country, a town of clean-living, good country people. AIDS was clearly a big city problem. It was something that happened in other kinds of lives." Chapter 1, Page 13

"On the matter of how my parents met, how they courted, I dare not ask my father. Any my mother, though seemingly willing, parts with no significant details. My brothers and I always thought it had something to do with physics." Chapter 2, Page 16

"For the Indian parties, Rajani wore a sari and we completely immersed ourselves in a familiar and affectionate culture in which we had our definite place as the juniormost couple; but at night we could don jeans and boots and go line dancing at the Sea Horse on West Walnut or listen to blues at the Down...