"'You ever have the feeling there's a stray something or other inside you?' he said. 'You don't know what it is, like a ball, or a stone, could be iron or cotton or grass or anything, but it's inside you. It's not fire or a rage or anything. Just a big ball. And there's no way to get at it?' He cut himself short, looked away, tapped the left side of his chest. 'Well, here it is. Right here.'"

- p. 47: Book One - All Respects to Heaven, I Like It Here
“Let the Great World Spin” by: Colum McCann - 2009 Random House Trade Paperback Edition