Bruce Roderick

“the University being an asylum, a refuge from the world, for the dispossessed, the crippled.”
― John Williams, Stoner

“London had had a subway system since 1863, but New York had not yet gone underground for at least two reasons. For one thing, New York was built on solid rock, and tunneling through the Manhattan schist presented enormous engineering obstacles. For another, during the years when “Boss” Tweed had the city in his grip, Tweed and his “ring” controlled the surface transportation lines and wanted no competition.”
― Stephen Birmingham, Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address

“Herman Melville, by then well into his seventies, often walked with his little granddaughter in Central Park. He had been living quietly in New York for years, convinced that his literary career was over, working as a customs inspector on the Hudson River piers. The Schirmers “discovered” the almost-forgotten author of Moby Dick, and gave a dinner for Melville and his wife. The Schirmers apparently found Melville charming but a little sad. He was working again on a final novel, to be called Billy Budd. But, he said, he was sure his book would never be published unless he had it privately printed, because his popularity of more than thirty years earlier had all but vanished.”
― Stephen Birmingham, Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address

“there is much that appears initially to be black and white and absolute, but later is revealed to be more gray than white or black.”
― Bob Lazar, Dreamland: An Autobiography