It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark little clocks on them. I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.

By the way, would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is somet…

The plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men.

The dilemma of the critic has always been that if he knows enough to speak with authority, he knows too much to speak with detachment.

We were stunned how petite she was in the flesh and she has the most beautiful skin. Not only that, she was nice, too. She arrived on time, no diva demands. Sh…

People remain what they are even if their faces fall apart.

There are very many characteristics which go into making a model civil servant. Prominent among them are probity, industry, good sense, good habits, good tempe…