"The intense public interest sur­rounding this case now extends be­yond the early prurient reactions, beyond the photogenic face of Rob­ert Chambers, beyond the upscale setting. The death of Jennifer Levin touched a nerve, particularly after the defense began trying to excuse it"

"Our failure to devise an effective response to AIDS is partly a product of the silence of our culture. We are raised to regard epidem­ics as relics of distant lands and ancient eras; when an outbreak does occur, it seems unprecedented, unnatural"

"While it's tempting to celebrate exuberantly the demise of yuppie culture and all the other horrendous phenomena of the Reagan/Thatcher/Koch era, capi­talism is not notable for its equitable division of pain"

"The stock market, which had broken record af­ter record since the ’82 depression, had just experi­enced the financial equi­valent of nuclear war. It was a good excuse to drink"

"Though Tyson lacks Muhammad Ali's inspired narcissism ... for all his reserve, his odd, even eerie combination of shyness and aggression, his is a wonderfully marketable image.

"Lester ennobled the ludicrous inner life of pop fans by telling the truth about it — by discerning that inner lives, and not music, were what pop music was about"

“The President is absolutely, totally convinced in his mind that that isn’t what happened. I know him, I know what his feeling is on this. I have heard what he said, and I accept it.”

The distinctively modern aspect of Nixon is that he can’t help betraying an awareness of the artifice in himself

“In Rosa Luxemburg, the line between emotion and intelligence re­mained strong and direct. All her life it was the task of her intellect to explain what her gut told her was true.”