Rand Nix

“Once, over dinner, Henry was quite startled to learn from me that men had walked on the moon. “No,” he said, putting down his fork. “It’s true,” chorused the rest, who had somehow managed to pick this up along the way. “I don’t believe it.” “I saw it,” said Bunny. “It was on television.” “How did they get there? When did this happen?”).”
― Donna Tartt, The Secret History

“Trees, thirty feet tall and black now, are planted in strict order along the avenues and main boulevards leading into and out of downtown. None of them bloom or grow anymore and some have fallen over, tumbling part way, leaning to the side, their massive roots exposed, black now too, and as I walk I touch my hand against each tree. The trunks are smooth, almost slick, as if they’ve been varnished and preserved. It’s a vision of a quiet Armageddon, or an emptied wasteland following a chemical attack. But this is only the wasteland of abuse and inattention.”
― Eric Barnes, The City Where We Once Lived

“It’s the place where reality strikes the ideal, where a joke becomes serious and anything serious is a joke. The magic point where every idea and its opposite are equally true.”
― Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch

“I can hear the boy in the library. The noise of children is unmistakable. Even when they are trying to be quiet. Maybe even more so.”
― Eric Barnes, The City Where We Once Lived