“and here—desolate, roughly surfaced, lined with eucalyptus and lemon groves—is Banyan Street.
[…]
into this perfect mold might be poured the inarticulate longings of a nation
[…]
one of those circumstances that satisfy one’s suspicion that life is indeed a scenario […] beautiful in its venality and in its devotion to immediate gratification
[…]
distinguishing between what happened and what merely might have happened, but I remain unconvinced that the distinction, for my purposes, matters
[…]
We must be aware of the dangers which lie in our most generous wishes
[…]
not places at all but abstractions”
-Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays