amanuesis (pg. 97) -- One employed to take dictation, or copy manuscripts.
As one tends the graves of the dead, so I tend the books. I clean them, do minor repairs, keep them in good order. And every day I open a volume or two, read a few lines or pages, allow the voices of the forgotten dead to resonate inside my head. Do they sense it, these dead writers, when their books are read? Does a pinprick of light appear in their darkness? Is their soul stirred by the feather touch of another mind reading theirs? I do hope so. For it must be very lonely being dead. (pg. 17)
fundoplication surgery (pg. 24) -- A surgical procedure in which the upper portion of the stomach is wrapped around the lower end of the esophagus and sutured in place as a treatment for the reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus
illiberality (pg. 127) -- Bigoted.
prize his little girl's fingers(pg. 130) -- To move or force with or as if with a lever; pry.
concomitant (pg. 131) -- One that occurs or exists concurrently with another.
imprimatur (pg. 161) -- An official permission to do something.
tare (pg. 169) -- An adjustment made for the weight of the packaging in order to determine the net weight of the goods.
fugged (pg. 203) -- To make stuffy and odorous
Branola (pg. 292) -- Either Post Bran'ola cereal or Orowheat Branola bread.
elegiac apathy (pg. 350) -- Expressing sorrow often for something past.
preternatural composure (pg. 368) -- Surpassing the normal or usual.
sedulous (pg. 425) -- Marked by care and persistent effort.
The fact that homelier and homier shared so many letters didn't seem a coincidence. (pg. 33)
"Sorry," said Aaron. "It's not my fault, it's geometry." -- p. 243.