''I never intended for Tom Bane's airplane to fall out of the sky. I only intended for something to fall.'' From ABBY FRUCHT's new novel, Polly's Ghost (Scribner, $25)
''America was another country in the fifties. Spaghetti came in cans. Cheese mainly meant Velveeta. Nobody had ever heard of cappuccino. Most fancy restaurants were serving something called Continental Cuisine, and the only Chinese dish anyone knew was chop suey.'' From RUTH REICHL's introduction to The Measure of Her Powers: An M.F.K. Fisher Reader (Counterpoint, $30)
