"I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive." Chapter 1, p. 1

"It was only this morning that I became conscious again of this physical Paris of which I have been unaware for weeks. Perhaps it is because the book has begun to grow inside me. I am carrying it around with me everywhere. I walk through the streets big with child and the cops escort me across the street. Women get up and offer me their seats. Nobody pushes me rudely any more. I am pregnant. I waddle awkwardly, my big stomach pressed against the weight of the world." Chapter 2, p. 26

"Something was needed to put me right with myself. Last night I discovered it: Papini. It doesn't matter to me whether he's a chauvinist, a little Christer, or a near-sighted pedant. As a failure he's marvelous. . . ." Chapter 5, p. 64

"Somehow the realization that...