Edward Lewis Wallant

"I love you all, you hear? Nothing turns MY stomach. I'll kiss your gallstones, your ulcers, your cancers, your bleeding piles - and they'll all disappear! I'm the miracle man."

"You gotta take your skin off, you gotta love so much that you go insane."

"And then she saw, and was instantly destroyed in a way that would insist upon her living."

"All my parents gave me was their fumbly hands: I got their hands inside me to this day."

"And a blade twitched into his heart, beginning the slow, massive bleeding he would never be able to stop, no matter what else he might accomplish. He was surprised and puzzled as he walked with that m…"

"He had gone to several universities . . . and had found only curves and credits. He had become drunk on the idea of God and found only theology. He had risen several times on the subtle and powerful w…"