I’d been so convinced of that particular narrative I never for one moment stopped to reappraise the situation. - Jasper Fforde

You’ll know the beginning easily enough; it’s when it all started going weird.

Rescue seemed a very remote possibility, and that was at the nub of the whole ethical-dilemma argument. You never come out on top, no matter what. The only way to win the game is not to play.

"How is the book going?" I asked returning to my knitting.
"The self-help stuff?"
"The magnum opus."
Landen looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "More opus than magnum. I'm trying to figure out whether the lack of progress is writer's block, procrastination, idleness or just plain incompetence."