"Do what you please in the city, it is there to back and frame you no matter what you do. And what goes on on its blocks and lots and side streets is anything the strong can think of and the weak will admire. All you have to do is heed the design—the way it’s laid out for you, considerate, mindful of where you want to go and what you might need tomorrow.
I lived a long time, maybe too much, in my own mind. People say I should get out more. Mix. I agree that I close off in places, but if you have been left standing, as I have, while your partner overstays at another appointment, or promises to give you exclusive attention after supper, but is falling asleep just as you have begun to speak—well, it can make you inhospitable if you aren’t careful, the last thing I want to be.
Hospitality is gold in this City, you have to be clever to figure out how to be welcoming and defensive at the same time."

Toni Morrison - Jazz, 1992

This is the narrator. I was hooked on page nine.