Top Highlights

• Had Vincent taken on a grand name and grown a long shimmering beard, he’d have thousands of people falling at his feet.
• It is natural to wonder, I suppose, why the six of us should want to live together. What can I say—it is one of the strengths of families to pretend that they desire what is unavoidable.
• We had already decided where to install the stove, but we went over the matter again at some length just to prolong the moment.
• We thought of the family as being interdependent: a person who spent money was also taking it away from the others.
• Our relationship with the things we accumulated became casual; we began treating them carelessly.