"Dedication: As this book, including this dedication, was written in chronological order, I have, so far only myself t…"

"I worked for the Federal Department of Transportation, painting the center lines on interstates. It was rewarding wor…"

"My book would be written from the heart, probably my own. I would talk about how the death of Small-Town America brin…"

"What I learned made me angry. What I read made me sleepy."

"I had been on the road for what seemed like weeks but was probably closer to days, more specifically hours."

"Wigfield, said the sign. Wigfield's Hottest Ladies. I was intrigued. When was it incorporated? What was its populatio…"

"I read the signs hanging in storefront windows hoping a tale of drama would emerge: Dam Being Torn Down Sale! declare…"

"To compensate for their skittishness around one another, humans have developed an elaborate system of body language. …"

"Having never written a book before, I had no way to gauge the time it would take to complete a 50,000 word tome. And …"

"Words cannot describe all the things that I have left to write."