My favorite quote is about the pumpkin pie Susan made, on page 41. To wit, in part, "Don't call her that thing," she said. "What if she hears you?"
"Donuts put a nice foundation under your morning." -- pg. 51.
Club Man (pg. 136) -- Probably refers to the Clubman line of colognes and such. I never heard of it, I was more of a Russian Leather kind of guy, back in the day when I used the stuff.
"Just so we're clear,", I said. "I'm not after your wife."... -- (pg. 31) I didn't understand the point of this exchange.
Tsimmis (pg. 174) -- Probably Tzimmis, one meaning of which is a state of confusion.
Defenestrated (pg. 65) -- Throwing of a person or thing out of a window.
Linguiça (pg. 104) -- Portuguese cured pork sausage.
Polemic (pg. 136) -- An aggressive attack on or refutation of the opinions or principles of another.
Formulaic Berbers (pg. 213) -- Don't know, maybe refers to something earlier in the story that I missed?
"What she does," I said, "is she tries not to want me to do things I don't want to do." -- (pg. 123) Spenser on the successful male/female relationship.
"Or maybe it is Margaret that I mourn for" -- Related to a poem by G. M. Hopkins (pg. 50)
Bench strength (pg. 219) -- The quality of the players sitting on the bench.
Inextricable (pg. 169) -- Incapable of being disentangled or untied.
"Frees their minds," I said,"to romp with the mind of god." -- (pg. 154)-- Now I have to read The Great Gatsby!
cathexis (pg. 220) -- Concentration of emotional energy on an object or idea. One source suggests a "crush" as an example.
Cathexis (pg. 41) -- From MSN Encarta: the concentration of a great deal of psychological and emotional energy on one particular person, thing, or idea
Ineffable (pb. 188)-- Incapable of being expressed in words. I've used the word, but, as usual, couldn't have put a coherent meaning to it.
Lunsmen (pg. 47) -- Probably mispeled "landman", fellow native in yiddish.
"This is exactly the right moment," I said, "for me to light two cigarettes and hand one to you."
"Makes you regret not smoking for a moment," Susan said.
Neurasthenia (pg. 231) -- A condition that is characterized especially by physical and mental exhaustion usually with accompanying symptoms (as headaches, insomnia, and irritability), is believed to result from psychological factors (as depression or emotional stress or conflict), and is sometimes considered similar to or identical with chronic fatigue syndrome. I think I've got it.
Several ducks waddled promptly over expecting to be fed. They were brown ducks for the most part except one which had a green head and was probably a male duck, though I wasn't sure. I didn't know a hell of a lot about ducks. (pg. 286)
Lisle (pg. 50) -- A fabric made of lisle thread, which is a smooth tightly twisted thread usually ade of long-staple cotton. You didn't know this?
Sere (pg. 102) -- Being dried and withered.
The street was lined with eucalyptus trees that sagged heavily, their branches nearly touching the ground in some places. (pg. 104) I can't visualize eucalyptus trees looking like that.