and National Book Award
-winning novel by American writer E. Annie Proulx
which was published in 1993. It was adapted into a film of the same name
, released in 2001.
The story centers on Quoyle, a third-rate newspaper reporter from upstate New York
whose father emigrated from Newfoundland. Shortly after his parents' suicide, Quoyle's unfaithful and abusive wife Petal leaves town and attempts to sell their daughters to sex traffickers.
"In a knot of eight crossings, which is about the average-size knot, there are 256 different 'over-and-under' arrangements possible... Make only one change in this 'over and under' sequence and either an entirely different knot is made or no knot at all may result."- Intro
"all stemmed from Quoyle's chief failure, a failure of normal appearance." 2
"Quoyle large, white, stumbling along going nowhere" 4
"Quote, who spoke little himself, inspired talkers. His only skill in the game of life" 9
"That was the stuff of other lives, he was waiting for his to begin. He got in the habit of walking around the trailer and asking aloud, "Who knows?" He said, "Who knows?" For no one knew. He meant, anything could happen. A spinning coin, still balanced on its rim, may fall in either direction." 11
Quoyle with regards to Petal, his wife, "There was a month of fiery happiness. Then six kinked years of suffering...In another time, in another sex, she would have been Genghis Khan." 13
"Why do we weep in grief, the aunt wondered. Dogs, deer, birds sufferent with dry eyes and in silence. The dumb suffering of animals. Probably a survival technique." 24
"'Quoyle, you got any maritime connections?' 'My grandfather was a sealer.' 'Jesus. You always come out at me out of left field.'" 30
"Dad, there's smoke coming out of the can and coming out of your mouth, too. how do you do that, daddy?" 42
"and three lucky stones strung on a wire to keep the house safe." 45