“Keith was built like a couple of fire hydrants, one of top of the other, and the top one was a little bit wider”
Ecochondriacs, p. 108
As Many Affable Men Do
“He was an affable man, and he might even have become a good man eventually if only he had been allowed to do that without having to overcome many obstacles or any stiff resistance. He liked the idea of being good”
Ecochondriacs, p. 104
Not a Normal Combination
“He had white hair that was thick and full, and which reached almost to his shoulders. He looked like a cross between an aging hippie running a tie dye shop and a Confederate general.”
Ecochondriacs, p. 103
Bonds and Bond Levies
The school “still looked entirely serviceable, but Cody guessed that an ambitious superintendent had gotten a bond levy passed, and was now tormenting his prisoners at a swankier location”
Ecochondriacs, p. 98
Spreading It All Around
“‘Um,’ he said, trying to gather up his thoughts, which someone had grabbed and then kicked all over the parking lot. It was probably the devil, and he was doing a lot of kicking”
Ecochondriacs, p. 92
A Triple Whoa
“He kissed her back for about a second and a half, and then jumped the same way he had once jumped when a waiter had dropped a hot bowl of French onion soup in his lap. ‘Whoa,’ he said. Whoa, whoa, whoa. ‘’Yikes,’ he added”
Ecochondriacs, p. 92
Turned Up to Eleven
“’Any news?’ he said querulously. It sounded like someone was messing with his tremolo knob”
Ecochondriacs, p. 90
Don’t Ever Try to Build on Lies
“Son, I don’t want you to ever apologize to somebody just because they say to. If you owe them one, don’t make them ask. You should be there ahead of them. And if you don’t owe them one, then your apology is not anything with them. It is trying to put things back together on the foundation of a lie. And lies always collapse under any weight you try to put on them”
Ecochondriacs, p. 87
They Don’t Even Know Most of the Words
“Cody suddenly realized that his internal moral monitor, his robust conscience, was going to wake up any minute and start swearing at him like a machinist mate on a tramp steamer. That would not be good. That would be unsettling. Evangelical consciences don’t usually cuss like that”
Ecochondriacs, p. 81
Innocence Bumps Its Head
“‘But . . . what about academic freedom? . . . what about my arguments? . . . what about the truth?’
‘What did you get your doctorate in? Idealism? On hobbits dancing in meadows?’”
Ecochondriacs, p. 80