Doug

“Cletus Purcel.” “What’s wrong with Clete?” “What’s right with him?” “Give it a break, Lucinda.” “He tried to turn somebody into a human bell clapper. Do you know a character by the name of Dogshit Dolowitz?” “No Duh Dolowitz, the merry prankster?” “Yeah, I guess he’s called that, too. Your friend crammed a garbage can over his head, then pounded the can all over an alley with a baseball bat.” “What for?” “Ask him . . . Wait a minute.” She set the phone down and closed a door. “Listen, Detective, Nate Baxter would like to put your buddy’s ham hocks in a skillet. I’d have a serious talk with him.”
― James Lee Burke, Dixie City Jam

“If I could open up my own bookstore? I’d open a place that’s only for people who really love books. All genres would be welcome, but there would be no paperbacks in the whole place – and if you rip a dust cover, you’re banned for life.”
― Jen Campbell, The Bookshop Book

“L.A. burns, and so many other cities smolder, waiting for the hose that will flood gasoline over the coals, and we listen to politicians who fuel our hate and our narrow views and tell us it’s simply a matter of getting back to basics while they sit in their beachfront properties and listen to the surf so they won’t have to hear the screams of the drowning.”
― Dennis Lehane, A Drink Before the War

“I started thinking about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was also visible in the distance. Click, click, click, twenty-one times, stop; turn around; pause twenty-one seconds; repeat. Click, click, click, twenty-one times, stop; turn around; pause twenty-one seconds; repeat. The heels of the guard on duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier click on the pavement twenty-four hours straight, seven days a week, 365 days a year, year in and year out. Rain, sleet, or snow never interrupts this routine. The only time it is interrupted is during the changing of the guard, which happens every thirty minutes. The whole routine then resumes until the next relief. There is much more behind the symbolism, sacrifices, and commitments of these dedicated warriors, but that’s a whole other story in itself.”
― Paul Landis, The Final Witness: A Kennedy Secret Service Agent Breaks His Silence After Sixty Years