As you fail, knowing youre not supposed to panic—panicking will drain — Jennifer Egan

"It jarred Sasha to think of herself as a glint in the hazy memories that Alex would struggle to organize a year or two from now: Where was that place with the bathtub? Who was that girl?”"

"All her excitement had seeped away, leaving behind a terrible sadness, an emptiness that felt violent, as if shed been gouged"

"The shame memories began early that day for Bennie, during the morning meeting, while he listened to one of his senior executives make a case for pulling the plug on Stop/Go, a sister band Bennie had signed to a three-record deal a couple of years back"

"Bennies assistant, Sasha, brought him coffee: cream and two sugars. He shimmied a tiny red enameled box from his pocket, popped the tricky latch, pinched a few gold flakes between his trembling fingers, and released them into his cup. Hed begun this regimen two months ago, after reading in a book on Aztec medicine that gold and coffee together were believed to ensure sexual potency. Bennies goal was more basic than potency: sex drive, his own having mysteriously expired."

"I cant tell if [Alice’s] actually real, or if shes stopped caring if shes real or not. Or is not caring what makes a person real."

"She and Coz were collaborators, writing a story whose end had already been determined: she would get well”"