“When friends come over, I tell them the house shakes because it’s on a fault line. I don’t tell them the house is upset. I don’t tell them the trees tap the windows at night and the wind only blows at dinner time and the floor tilts upstairs, so Sis and I have to lean against the wall to get to our rooms. I don’t tell them Mom and Dad walk with their hands out like acrobats to get to their room.”

“As I sat drenching myself in Giono’s world, it was as if I knew I had a soul.”

“Her life is not a goddamn movie. How’s this for plot? Fires erupt when people aren’t paying attention.”

“Refrains like ‘we were down with you, down with you, down with you’ extend beyond the bounds of normal chorus and invite a particular mode of listening that engages the logic of mantras—sound as vibrational soothing.”