Adult stories never made sense, and they were so slow to start. They made me feel like there were secrets, Masonic, mythic secrets, to adulthood. Why didn't adults want to read about Narnia, about secret islands and smugglers and dangerous fairies?

“Fiction has two uses. Firstly, it’s a gateway drug to reading. The drive to kno…”

“The person at the other end of the phone said something. Mr. Croup cringed."Oh.…”

“Nothing happened. Nothing continued to happen. More Nothing. The Return of Noth…”

“I think...that I would rather recollect a life mis-spent on fragile things than…”