I tried not to fall asleep, but it was hard. The other men were also having trouble staying awake. Two men were trying to play piquet, but it was hard. The road was bumpy, but besides that, they couldn't concentrate. They gave up. I asked for the deck of cards. They gave it to me. Offering to play a game, they declined. I asked the new conductor: "Do you want to play a game?" He shook his head. I started playing a game of solitaire. It was hard. I was having difficulty concentrating.

– Verse 173 from the chapter called Bohemia

"I also have something for your father."

"What's that?"

– Verses 906-907 from the chapter called Security

At the time of her sudden death, Jesus's father was engaged in some very serious litigation - had been for quite some time. As long as Jesus could remember, his father had been poring over books: law books, books on health, books covering conflicts of law, international arbitration, personal injury cases, adjective law - the list was endless; the books were heavy and full of small print: Jesus didn't care much for them, but he knew, from an early age, that somehow they were intimately tied to his father's income, his mother's illness and his own persistent loneliness, for it seemed like those books, while keeping his father occupied for lengthy periods of time, would also send him far away, to places that Jesus would never have known existed if not for geography. Jesus blamed those books, even though they kept his father close to him, for keeping his father preoccupied. They angered him - they angered his father if they proved unhelpful or troublesome - but Jesus's anger was stronger: he hated the books for taking away his father's attention (once, his father had mercilessly spanked him for ripping out a few pages, which the young Jesus had done out of frustration for being neglected) but ultimately (notwithstanding the great pain of that episode) Jesus blamed the books for something far, far worse: a much meaner and grosser negligence. He blamed them for letting his mother die.

– Verse 52 from the chapter called Adolescence

"No," said Jesus. "My grandmother, like most of my family, lives here now. My father owned the apartment after she died, but, when the authorities discovered that my father was also dead, they took possession."

– Verse 609 from the chapter called Security

The right bedroom was empty; the window was open. The main room was also empty; the area where the Black Madonna had proudly stood was now given back to the television. The bathroom was empty; so was the kitchen. That was it. She's not here, I said to myself.

– Verse 593 from the chapter called Adolescence