"Unlike the memoirist, who promises to tell the truth, the fiction writer says upfront, “I am going to tell you a lie,…"

"one way to think of privilege is who’s allowed to make mistakes."

"Here is a prayer: As you gain power, may you never forget what it’s like to not have power."

"As a former debater, I think that the “debate” mentality is a huge part of the problems in our public discourse. Deba…"

"Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet. 1977, May 3, six thirty in the morning, no one knows anything but this i…"

"Every time she kissed him, every time he opened his arms and she crawled into them, felt like a miracle. Coming to he…"

"...all of them had tried to forget it. They did not talk about it; they never mentioned it. But it lingered, like a b…"

"Dreaming of his future, he no longer heard all the things she did not say. (p164)"

"It would disappear forever from her memory of Lydia, the way memories of a lost loved one always smooth and simplify …"

"People decide what you're like before they even get to know you” (p193)"