Shimmer

That's the thing about dominance - we know them so well, and they can't even bother to imagine us.

from Shimmer
by Sarah Schulman
Avon Books, 1998

Under the Banner of Heaven

On top, the flat summit plateau feels like a lost world - an island in the sky, cut off from civilization, sprouting manzanita and mariposa lilies, wild roses and yucca, Indian paintbrush and stout ponderosa pines. "My brother David and I used to sneak up here every chance we got when we were kids," says DeLoy Bateman. "Seemed like the only place where the religion couldn't control us."

from Under the Banner of Heaven
by Jon Krakauer
Anchor Books, 2003

The Human Factor

A man in love walks through the world like an anarchist, carrying a time bomb.

from The Human Factor
by Graham Greene
Avon Books, 1978

Elections in the postmodern era

What is the primary process but the electoral version of American Idol?

from Endangered Moderates
appearing on page 16 of Parade magazine

Our Ecstatic Days (2)

This reminds Wang that it's always good to include in such meetings one or two people with no imagination whatsoever; they ask the obvious questions that force everyone to not overlook the obvious.

Our Ecstatic Days
by Steve Erickson
Simon & Schuster, 2005

Farhenheit 451

"Sometimes I sneak around a listen in subways. Or I listen in soda foundations, And do you know what?"

"What."

"People don’t talk about anything."

"Oh, they must."

"No, not anything. They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how swell. But they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else."

from Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury