“Wasn’t history supposed to end in 1991?” David Greene, Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia.

“Some notable sight was drawing the passengers, both men and women, to the windows, and therefore I rose and crossed the car to see what it was.”  Owen Wister, The Virginian.

“My wife and I were both born without whatever brain part it is that enables people to decorate their homes.”  Dave Barry, Dave Barry’s Bad Habits: A 100% Fact-free Book.

“In planning your wedding, remember that this is above all a sacred and personal occasion.” Jordan Marsh, Wedding Embassy Yearbook.

“Down to the last day, even the last hour now, I’m an old man, lonely and unloved, sick and hurting and tired of living.” John Grisham, The Testament.

“To write is to talk to strangers.” Tracy Kidder & Richard Todd, Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction.

“The day my wife left me she gave me a list of what I was.” Chang-Rae Lee, Native Speaker.

“We were never born to read.” Maryanne Wolf, Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.

“He knew that it was wrong, and that he was going to get caught.”  Scott Turow, Personal Injuries.

“Two hours before my mother killed herself, I noticed she had put on makeup.” Betty Rollins, Last Wish.

“Standing before the kitchen sink and regarding the bright brass faucets that gleamed so far away, each with a bead of water at its nose, slowly swelling, falling, David again became aware that this world had been created without thought of him.” Henry Roth, Call It Sleep.

“I was in the washtub naked.” Akira Kurosawa, Something Like an Autobiography.

“America, said Horace, the office temp, was a run-down and demented pimp.” Sam Lipsyte, The Ask.

“About 17,000 years ago a great sheet of ice one thousand feet thick covering eastern North America from the Canadian Arctic all the way to Staten Island began to melt and retreat.”  City of New York Parks & Recreation, New York City Trees: A Field Guide for the Metropolitan Area.

“Fame requires every kind of excess.”  Don DeLillo, Great Jones Street.