"The acrid air ate at the back of his throat; he could imagine the tissues becoming horny, dense, impermeable. If this jobs likely to involve me in frequent trips to LA I'm going to have to buy a filtermask." December, p. 5

"These days nobody in his right mind would start a family before he could afford proper medical care for his children. Up here in the mountains it wasn't so bad as in the cities; even so you couldn't be too careful." January, p. 57

"He was home for the weekend from college, and this was the ritual of Sunday lunch after church. Apparently servants, in Mr. Bamberley's cosmos, didn't have to be allowed time off for worship, although both Christy and Ethel, the cook, were devout. They could be heard singing gospel songs in the kitchen most of the day." February, p. 109

"the sea moved lazily, its embryo...