dennis scharnberg

bird’s eye view

Gwenda sat quietly for half an hour in the front hall.  Then she was led into a smaller room that was darkened with old paintings….

Ruth Ledgerwood, Death by Logic.

worn out shoe

Speaking of her grandchildren, both of whom were away at school, Anne admitted that “moral judgement from others terrifies them.”

Devona Twilly, Shallowness, a Novel.

run away again

“Thank you for allowing me to be even the smallest part of your vast readership,” said Tim, although he had no idea what he would actually say to Joyce Carol Oates, given the opportunity.

Burdyce Goode, Philosophy of Vegetables.

for the children

Rabbit Shanahan came to be well-known for stealing row boats.  Sometimes, he would repaint the thing and then sell it back to the owner.  That was in the 1840s.

Carson Plante, Old Philadelphia.

careless in keys

Jack knew only one method of writing: to move from one caustic paragraph to the next.

Quentin Drabb, Ebenezer’s Untold Tales.

yoga for all

Oliver claims that he used to read Marx a bit.  Just for the laughs.

Roone Giddings, An Arrangement of Particles.

remember the fifth

“The truth, my dear Millicent, always sounds unconvincing.”

Ernestine Stanley, The Case of the Cautious Cadaver.

multiplication of vice

Jack sought to weaken his dependence on rationalizations that entail calling others crazy.

Giles Coxe-Coburn, Tooth and Claw.

sophistication is cheap

Music is mercy.

Amanda Willcoxen, ed., The Literary and Philosophical Fragments of Gregory James Sallust.

with great quiet

It is the lure of ideas.  It is the lure of simple, even elegant, ideas that leads one to evil.

Rollo Case, Styles of Pretense.