(2002) In Rome, month upon month, I struggled with how to structure the book about my father (He already had the water, he just had to discover jars). At one point I laid each chapter out on the terrazzo floor, eighty-three in all, arranged them like...
Personally, if I were trying to discourage people from smoking, my sign would be a little different. In fact, I might even go too far in the opposite direction. My sign would say something like, "Smoke if you wish. But if you do, be prepared for the ...
What would you do if you saw something nobody else could see?” The tape gun fell out of Luke’s hand, and hit the tiled hearth. He knelt to pick it up, not looking at her. “You mean if I were the only witness to a crime, that sort of thing?” �...
She was looking at Alec instead, watching him as he talked to Jace. There was a kinetic, almost feverish energy to him that hadn’t been there before. Something about Jace sharpened him, brought him into focus. If she were going to draw them togethe...
He reassures her, but he feels her soft laughter travel through their joined hands — how did that happen? — as they make their way downstairs. And he understands. He understands why people hold hands: he’d always thought it was about possessive...
The world of literature has everything in it, and it refuses to leave anything out. I have read like a man on fire my whole life because the genius of English teachers touched me with the dazzling beauty of language. Because of them I rode with Don Q...
Suppose neutral angels were able to talk, Yahweh and Lucifer – God and Satan, to use their popular titles – into settling out of court. What would be the terms of the compromise? Specifically, how would they divide the assets of their early kingd...
I know you told me you'd wait for me, but I don't want either of us to wait anymore. Especially when I knew from the first moment I saw you that you were special. I feel like I've been running my whole life, speeding from small town into a big city, ...
Rules or no rules, it was certainly better to see these things than not to see them. Marya felt that she had a secret, a very good secret, and that if she took care of it, the secret would take care of her. She had seen the world naked, caught out. H...
Mr. Wall: She knows nothing, Mr. Hand. Mr. Hand: A dead end... Yes, Mr. Wall? Mr. Wall: We thought his imprint would allow us to track him, but instead we have been brought here. This is irrational. Mr. Hand: Instincts are irrational, Mr. Wall, and w...
Alan Garner: Hello. How 'bout that ride in? I guess that's why they call it Sin City. [awkward laughter] Alan Garner: You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. But when my ...
Cobb: You got the basic layout. Bookstore, cafe, almost everything else is here too. Ariadne: Who are the people? Cobb: Projections of my subconscious. Ariadne: Yours? Cobb: Yes. Remember, you are the dreamer, you build this world. I am the subject, ...
Simon Foster: Tobes, I don't want to have to read you the riot act but I am going to have to read you some extracts from the riot act, like section one, paragraph one: don't leave your boss twisting in the wind and then burst in late, smelling like a...
Harvey Milk: [answering the phone] Scotty? Paul: I'm sorry, sir. I read about you in the paper. Harvey Milk: I'm sorry, I can't talk right now. Paul: Sir, I think I'm gonna kill myself. Harvey Milk: No, you don't want to do that. Where are you callin...
Randy: [Frank and Charlie have arrived unexpected at Frank's brother's house for Thanksgiving. Randy opens the door and the smile on his face disappears] Yes? Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Yes! Who is this? Randy: It's Randy. Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Randy? You...
[Marwood knocks on the door of a farmhouse. An old woman with a clunky hearing aid pinned to her apron opens the door] Mrs. Parkin: What do you want? Marwood: I'm a friend of Montague Withnail's. He's lent us his cottage. I wondered if you could sell...
Cleon: I know that a lot of you aren't too happy about going out on patrol. Just just remember this, out of a street family of 120, plus affiliates, you were chosen for this expedition. That makes you special. Now, here's the line up: Swan, second-in...
Bruce Wayne: They're planning on dosing the entire city with toxin. Lucius Fox: [shaking his head] Water supply won't help you disperse an inhalant... [pauses, realizing] Bruce Wayne: What? Lucius Fox: ...Unless you had a microwave emitter capable of...
[at the town festival] Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen: Then let's finish it, right now! Buford's Gang Member #1: Uh, not now, Buford. Uh, Marshal's got our guns. Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen: Like I said, we'll finish this tomorrow. Buford's Gang Member #2: Tomo...
Your daughter is ugly. She knows loss intimately, carries whole cities in her belly. As a child, relatives wouldn’t hold her. She was splintered wood and sea water. They said she reminded them of the war. On her fifteenth birthday you taught her ho...
Clary shut her eyes. You didn't say no to an angel, no matter what it had in mind. Her heart pounding, she sat floating in the darkness behind her eyelids, resolutely trying not to think of Jace. But his face appear against the blank screen of her cl...