"MERELY MARKING A COURSE SET EARLY IN OUR DAYS"

Ethan Canin, America America: A Novel (New York; Random House, 2008) ("How do each of us come to understand what is never spoken? By what constellation of gesture and avowal, by what detail of comportment or tone do we discern the dark inobvious intent of those around us? The earliest real words Liam Metarey ever spoke to me--'work will set you free'--returned to me with a shock when I came upon them again, six years later, on my first trip to Europe, and only suggested once more that our worlds--our lives--are not at all what they appear. That all of us, no matter how difficult this may be to accept, are merely marking a course set early in our days. . . ." Id. at 401-402.).