Sea of Tranquility

by Emily St. John Mandel

it’s too much like England without actually being England. It’s a far-distant simulation of England, a watercolor superimposed unconvincingly on the landscape.

if you’ve stayed in one Marriott, haven’t you stayed in all of them?

Everything offended Jessica, which is inevitable when you move through the world in search of offense.

if you say the name of the thing you fear, might you attract that thing’s attention?

“When I say it’s a dangerous job, Gaspery, I mean I wouldn’t want anyone I love to do it.”

I would rather do a dangerous job than a job that makes me comatose with boredom,

if there’s one historical constant over the centuries, it’s that no one especially wants to mess with HR.”

we turn to postapocalyptic fiction not because we’re drawn to disaster, per se, but because we’re drawn to what we imagine might come next. We long secretly for a world with less technology in it.”

It’s a great life if you don’t weaken,”