Quotes from Gabrielle Zevin

I like all weddings, but isn't it particularly lovely when two grown-ups decide to get married?" Lambiase's mother would like to see her son remarry some day. "I know what you mean, Ma. Doesn't seem like they're going in with their eyes closed," Lambiase says. "He knows she isn't perfect. She knows he definitely isn't perfect. They know there's no such thing as perfect.

I like planning weddings," I said. "I like the ceremony. And people invite you into their lives on what they believe to be the most important day. It's a privilege." This was my spiel.

A.J. apologizes but he is not sorry. Who are these people who think a book comes with a guarantee that they will like it?

You are willing to work hard, but you want something with flexible hours. You have a baby on the way. Also, you're sick of bosses. You want to be your own boss, but you don't have much money to start a business.

time. I suppose, relative to the length of your life, you feel as if you've known me a rather long time. Your perspective of time is really very warped, Maya. But I am old and soon, you'll forget you even knew me.

THE AWARD CEREMONY is held at a high school in Hyannis. Though it's just a gymnasium (the scent of balls of both varieties is still palpable) and the ceremony hasn't started yet, everyone speaks in hushed tones, like it's church. Something important and literary is about to happen here.

Good morning, magazines! Good morning, bookmarks! Good morning, books!

Showing up is what counts, A.J.

You had things you wanted to know. But she is so hung up on the morality of it that she's useless.

clogged up the toilet, too), then deals with the receipts, a task as depressing as it sounds. Finally, he goes upstairs to the attic apartment where he lives. He pops a carton of frozen vindaloo into the microwave. Nine minutes, per the box's instructions. As he's standing

People tell boring lies about politics, God and love. You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question: What is your favourite book?

The Fall of the House of Usher' is a fair primer on what not to do with children.

We walk to the parking lot, and he says, "Did something happen back there? Did I say something wrong? I thought it was going very well until suddenly it wasn't." I say, "I just don't like you," and I get in my car.

I did wear those shoes to my wedding, and I ended up twisting my ankle on the way out of the synagogue. I limped through the entire reception. I couldn't dance at all. My mother's advice had always been sound.

What you call boredom some people call happiness

I catch myself. It's not that bad. But I occasionally switch a word with another word.

We read to know were not alone. We read because we are alone. We read and we are not alone. We are not alone.

Good morning, magazines! Good morning, bookmarks! Good morning, books! Good morning, store!

and vice versa. This is true in books and also in life.

Do you leave the formulation of memories to happenstance, or do you decide to remember?

I also think people didn't truly understand the Internet back then, if indeed they can be said to understand it now.

Old School by Tobias Wolff

Why is any one book different from any other book? They are different, A.J. decides, because they are. We have to look inside many. We have to believe. We agree to be disappointed sometimes so that we can be exhilarated every now and again. He

But I loved his books, or at least that first one. And I felt that somewhere down deep inside him the person who wrote it must still be there. That you couldn't write such beautiful things and have such an ugly heart. But that is the truth. He was a beautiful writer and a terrible person.