"Most literary prizes are only nominally about literature. They are really about brand consolidation for beer companie…"

"As a reader, I want to claim fellowship with "good writing" without limits; to be able to say that Hurston is my sist…"

"The more blessed she felt on earth, the more rarely she turned to heaven."

"You always wanted to make it clear you weren't like the rest of us. You're still doing it."

"You hear girls in the toilets of clubs saying, 'Yeah, he fucked off and left me. He just couldn't deal with love. He …"

"The thinnest covering of luck was on him like fresh dew. While he slipped in and out of consciousness, the position o…"

"This is what divorce is: Taking things you no longer want from people you no longer love."

"Ryan's freckles were a join-the-dot's enthusiast's wet dream."

"..and the devil won another easy hand in God's poker game."

"His mind was a small thing with big holes through which passions regularly seeped out."