flibbertigibbet (pg. 600) -- A Middle English word referring to a flighty or whimsical person. A word not used often enough!
studies in American Toughguy manqu (pg. 158) -- Unfulfilled or frustrated in realizing an ambition.
Snopes Cow (pg. 180) -- Some sort of weird Faulkner reference. See, this is why this book is good, now I gotta read Faulkner!
He carried a BIC lighter in his sweaty palm, like s sick man with his hand on the call nurse's button. (pg. 16)
The law requires you to ride right there on the blacktop... This I refuse to do... Still,when I saw screeching near-misses between cars and people stupid enough to pedal their $3,000, space-alloy machines in the 'bike lane' -- I call it the suicide lane -- I rooted instinctively for the car. (pg. 52)
'Where You Can Be An Individual!' (pg. 191)
The old man nodded. "Now, I can die."
She glanced at him. "Don't." Her tone was surprisingly tender, and probably she sensed how important he really was to her, because when he did die, two years further on, she went right after, and most of the people who knew her well agreed it was the sudden lack of opposition that undid her. (pg. 40)