“Everyone has two memories. The one you can tell and the one that is stuck to the underside of that, the dark, tarry smear of what happened.”

“Nonfiction is both easier and harder to write than fiction. It's easier because the facts are already laid out before you, and there is already a narrative arc. What makes it harder is that you are not free to use your imagination and creativity to fill in any missing gaps within the story.”

“I was the kind of reader in smudged pink harlequin glasses sitting on the cool, dusty floor of the Arrandale public library, standing at the edge of the playground, having broken a tooth in dodge ball, and lying under my covers with a flashlight.”

“Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long intricate intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner.”

“Mrs. Gruber said that happiness was not something she aspired to, that when we had seen as much of the world as she had, we would know that what lies right behind the horseshit is not a prize pony, my dears, it's more horseshit.”

“Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner.”

“You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.”

“Men do not know what they do not know, and women should not tell them.”

“Be real and be unashamed, even of your faults. I do truly know what my husband is made of and vice versa. ”

“Love at first sight is easy to understand”

“The past is a candle at great distance: too close to let you quit, too far to comfort you.”