“I am not afraid. I assume that if you don’t want to act out my fantasy with me, you’ll still be impressed with my openness (it says good things about my opinion of you that I’d attempt something so perilous as this) and even if you don’t want to cross this line with me, I know we’ll continue to get on, probably even more famously than before.”

“Her handicap only becomes obvious when her relatives wipe her mouth at dinner, in front of everyone in the restaurant. I’m sure she’s always relied on them, and trusts them when maybe she’s never trusted anyone, but I think she probably trusts them too much.”

“Had I the courage to look down again, I would have noticed I was still wearing my white, knee-high socks, and I surely would have removed them, but instead I hung up my shorts, concentrating my eyes on her shot of tequila on the ledge.”

“For me there was the Incredible Hulk, then Raiders of the Lost Ark, then pro-wrestling, then fishing, then her, then music, then her, then her, then pot, then her, and now there is writing. I am merely a more thoughtful and elegant version of mom.”

“At the reading he groped all the women and danced like a fool and talked loudly, and blew up the motherfucking spot, brightened the room, like a rock star should. He was a character, drunk and lecherous, charming and disarming, insecure and bullishly brave, fun and worth all the attention he was asking for.”

“I noticed the underwhelmed look on my date’s face as we rolled into the Red Lobster parking lot. But it wasn’t until I stepped in the door with my date’s soft, corsaged hand in mine, that I questioned to what extent I should ever again trust my mother. I also re-evaluated my idea of luxury. Again.”