Quotes from Michael Finkel

Depressive episodes closed around him like curtains and could hang there for weeks.

If you're born a human oddity, says the introductory chapter of Very Special People, every day of your life, starting in infancy, you are made aware that you are not as others are. When you get older, it continues, things are likely to get worse. You may hide from the world, advises the book, to avoid the punishment it inflicts on those who differ from the rest in mind or body.

The fact that Longo himself was a skilled liar seemed to engender in him an ancillary condition in which he was distrustful of everyone else's honesty.

Knowing when not to take an item, however deflating, is mandatory for a thief expecting career longevity.

Breitwieser has not requested a lawyer, and Von der Mühll wants to keep it that way, so the detective is playing up his compassion, not his size. Muscle isn't needed here; flattery is.

Von der Mühll devotes almost all his time to the case, trying not to be overly menacing or judgmental. "I can't excuse that, but I can understand," is a phrase the detective is fond of saying.

The painting seems to have a bubbly effect on both of them, aesthetic champagne.