It was a gorgeous and intricate delusion, Manhattan, and from crooked angles on overcast days you saw it disintegrate, were forced to consider this tenuous creature in its true nature.
-- Mark Spitz (Friday, Part 1)

Importance: The author seeks to frame Manhattan as an entity to be viewed from the prism of originality, a form that exists outside of human comprehension. Its delusion is the identity humans impose onto it, but Mark Spitz sees that behind said delusion, is a thriving energy all unto itself, an energy he wants to experience in this new apocalyptic world.

His aptitude lay in the well-executed muddle, never shining, never flunking, but gathering himself for what it took to progress past lie’s next random obstacle. It was his solemn expertise.
-- Mark Spitz (Friday, Part 1)

Importance: Early in the novel, Mark Spitz is characterized as the ultimate every man, someone so mediocre and unexceptional, that he seems blurry, muted, and bland. Yet Mark Spitz unremarkable...