“The smoke alarm went off in the hallway upstairs, either to let us know the battery had just died or because the house was on fire.”

—  Don DeLillo , book White Noise

Source: White Noise

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The smoke alarm went off in the hallway upstairs, either to let us know the battery had just died or because the house …" by Don DeLillo?
Don DeLillo photo
Don DeLillo 101
American novelist, playwright and essayist 1936

Related quotes

Tennessee Williams photo

“We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.”

Tennessee Williams The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore

Christopher
Source: The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1963)

Steven Wright photo

“I recently went to the hardware store and I bought some used paint… it was in a shape of a house. I also bought some batteries, but they weren't included. So I had to buy them again.”

Steven Wright (1955) American actor and author

I Have A Pony (1985)

Robert Frost photo

“Talking is a hydrant in the yard and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes all the pressure off the second.”

Robert Frost (1874–1963) American poet

Letter to Sydney Cox (3 January 1937), quoted in Robert Frost : The Trial By Existence (1960) by Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant, p. 351, and Robert Frost and Sidney Cox: Forty Years of Friendship (1981) by William Richard Evans, p. 223
General sources
Context: Talking is a hydrant in the yard and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes all the pressure off the second. My mouth is sealed for the duration of my stay here. I'm not even going to write letters around to explain to collectors my not having had any Christmas card this year. I'm not going to explain anything personal any more.

Maureen Johnson photo

“I can sleep like a champion. I once slept through a smoke alarm going off. For three hours.”

Maureen Johnson book Let It Snow

Source: Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances

Ron White photo

“My wife's cooking's gotten a lot better since she learned the smoke alarm wasn't a timer. I had to tell her, "Honey, the food's done before that particular buzzer goes off!"”

Ron White (1956) American comedian

They Call Me Tater Salad

Frank Zappa photo

“I've smoked ten marijuana cigarettes in my life, and probably the last time I had one near my face was twelve, fifteen years ago. And the reason I did was because, since I do smoke, people would say, "Here, smoke this, you'll get high." So I smoked it, and it gave me a sore throat and made me sleepy. And I must either presume that that's what high means, or something was wrong. But I've never had a positive result from smoking marijuana. It just wasn't my cup of tea. And I never used LSD, never used cocaine, never used heroin or any of that other stuff.”

Frank Zappa (1940–1993) American musician, songwriter, composer, and record and film producer

Rolling Stone interview (1988)

“Woman: Do come along quick, there's a house on fire.
Fire Chief: A house on fire? Just a moment, lady – what's the address?
Woman: Grimshaw Street.
Fire Chief: Grimshaw Street – Grimshaw … now wait a minute, I know it as well as can be, and I just can't place it.
Woman: Oh come along, it's only just round…
Fire Chief: No, no, no – don't tell me, let me try and think of it for myself. Grimshaw St–… oh, isn't that annoying, I could walk straight to it, and I can't think of it.”

Robb Wilton (1881–1957) comedian

The Fire Chief

Laurell K. Hamilton photo

“You don't smoke do you?"
"No, why?"
"They're afraid of fire."
"Great, we're going to be eaten alive because neither of us smokes."
I almost laughed. He sounded so thoroughly disgusted…”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Guilty Pleasures

Source: Guilty Pleasures

Stuart Merrill photo

“Incense smokes, and love takes care,
In her blue bed the virgin died;
The fire broods, the day falls,
The Angel, sisters, knocks on the door.”

Stuart Merrill (1863–1915) American poet, who wrote mostly in the French language

Fume l'encens, veille l'amour,
Dans son lit bleu la vierge est morte;
Couve le feu, tombe le jour,
L'Ange, mes soeurs, frappe à la porte.
"La Mystérieuse Chanson"

William Blake photo

“The look of love alarms
Because 'tis filled with fire;
But the look of soft deceit
Shall win the lover's hire.”

William Blake (1757–1827) English Romantic poet and artist

No. 2, The Look of Love
1790s, Poems from Blake's Notebook (c. 1791-1792), Several Questions Answered

Related topics