“That's what novels are: They're amalgams of archetypes, collections of random traits one observes in other people through life, blended into fresh characters.”

“Remember: There's a reason the fairy godmother gave Cinderella two glass slippers.”

“...she would have walked all the way up to East Sixty-Third Street, and probably 163rd Street, if it meant pouring even more into this memory that wasn't a memory.”

“He was right: not about her playing him, or about her laughing at him, but certainly about her carelessness, about her casual disregard for how he would feel if he found out, and about the stunning lack of depth it exposed in her character.”

“That's what novels are: They're amalgams of archetypes, collections of random traits one observes in other people through life, blended into fresh characters.”

“Love had to be deeper than that, than a glance over tea, which was indicative but not dispositive.”