How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Since that time I have been wary of trying new foods that might upset my system, and I have never accepted food from someone I didn't fully trust. (15.30)
Enzo's distrust of taking food from strangers stems from his experience with Maxwell's hot peppers. We don't blame him—those things sound really unpleasant to eat.
Quote #2
"She likes the nuggets, she's just doing this because you're here. I'm not making her a new dinner every time she decides she doesn't like something." (14.54)
Eve's anger toward Denny and Zoë is less about Zoë's behavior toward her dinner and more about her anger toward Denny. Even's begun to feel ill here, and her fear of taking care of Zoë by herself makes her feel like Denny is undermining her parenting decisions. Simply asking Zoë why she didn't want her dinner would have probably made this whole thing avoidable, but hey, hindsight is 20/20.
Quote #3
[Denny] took such care with [Zoë's] peanut butter and banana sandwiches, slicing the banana so that each slice was exactly the same thickness. (24.6)
Again, here we see Denny catering to his daughter's needs and making sure that the food he makes her matches her preferences. His attention to small details like this shows how much he loves his daughter and how he'll always go the extra mile for her. It also explains his tenacity with the lawsuit: if Denny is focused and driven enough to painstakingly cut a banana, he's also focused and driven enough to slog through a three-year custody battle. A+ parenting, Denny.
Quote #4
The group meal was convivial, and though I was determined to remain aloof, one of the cousins was always willing to slip me a treat at mealtime. And no one ever kicked me out from under the very large dining table where I lingered during dinner, even though I was breaking my own personal code; a certain sense of lawlessness pervaded the house…Why shouldn't I have partaken in the debauchery? (25.3)
When Denny, Enzo, and Zoë visit Eve's extended family up in Methow Valley, it seems like everyone's personal codes are on hiatus, not just Enzo's. We're looking at you, Annika.
Quote #5
[Denny] opened a package of peanut butter sandwich crackers he must have gotten from a vending machine. I love those crackers the best. It's the salt and the butter in the crackers mixed with the fat in the peanuts. I tried to eat slowly, savoring each bite, but I was too hungry and swallowed them so quickly I barely got to taste them. What a shame to waste something so wonderful on a dog. Sometimes I hate what I am so much. (19.3)
Enzo's love of people food helps him feel like more of a person here, but it's in this moment of enjoyment that he has to step back and assess what he really is—and it upsets him. We're reminded that Enzo sometimes feels trapped in his own skin, and he wants more than anything to be what he can't become. On that note, is anyone else craving peanut butter sandwich crackers now?
Quote #6
"Your wife cooked a delightful dinner," Luca said. "I remember it still. Please accept my sincere and heartfelt condolences." (50.11)
During Luca's first interaction with Denny, he tells him that he remembers Eve's cooking. It's a small gesture, but it's part of a bigger picture. Later, Luca reaches out to Denny because he also lost his wife and was given the opportunity that he now wants to present to Denny. So it's the small act of honoring Eve's memory through this comment that gives us a hint into Luca's thinking: it's a big reason why he has chosen Denny as his mentee. It also shows that Luca's just an all-around nice guy. We knew we liked him.
Quote #7
I followed him into the kitchen, for a moment concerned that he had lied to Mike and Tony and that perhaps we did have a gas oven after all. But he didn't go to the oven, he went to the cupboard and took out a glass. Then he reached into where he kept the liquor and took out a bottle. He poured a drink. It was absurd. Depressed, stresses, hands shaking, and now he was going to get himself drunk? I couldn't stand for it. I barked sharply at him. (35.27-8)
This is the first time we see Denny actually hit rock bottom and resort to something drastic as a sign of his grief. Really, who could blame him? He's lost his wife, he's embroiled in a custody battle for his daughter, and now he's just had a rape charge slapped on him. It's a lot to deal with. Even so, Enzo's right. It's too much of a pathetic cliché for us, too.
Quote #8
They were now the Evil Twins. Evil, horrible, dastardly people who stuffed themselves with burning hot peppers in order to fuel the bile in their stomachs. (39.32)
Enzo's assessment of Maxwell and Trish made us picture them with twirling mustaches in a kitchen full of flames. Maybe the zebra they bought Zoë really was demonic, after all…
Quote #9
I devoured the squirrel. I had to do it. I missed Eve so much I couldn't be a human anymore and feel the pain that humans feel. I had to be an animal again…I ate the squirrel for Eve. (28.10)
Enzo's disconnect from his "human" thoughts and actions indicates that his pain has engulfed him so thoroughly he can't think straight.
Quote #10
[Denny] was baking cookies last night in anticipation of Zoë's return, making the batter from scratch like he used to do, when the phone rang. (57.3)
Finally, someone in this book is happy, and there's a moment of light, uninterrupted joy. We thought we'd never see that again. Plus, there's reference to cookies, which is bound to make anyone happy.