Quote 13
She has the gift of accepting her life; as he comes to know her, he realizes that she has never wished she were anyone other than herself, raised in any other place, in any other way. This, in his opinion, is the biggest difference between them, a thing far more foreign to him than the beautiful house she'd grown up in, her education at private schools. (6.50)
What's funny here is that even though Maxine fits right into American life, and is living the American dream, she is foreign to Gogol. He has no idea what it's like to live a life like hers.
Quote 14
He is stunned by the house, a Greek Revival, admiring it for several minutes like a tourist before opening the gate. (6.12)
Part of Maxine's attraction for Gogol is her lavish family home, which is so different from the house at 67 Pemberton Road. One look at the Greek Revival, and you know this girl is loaded.
Quote 15
Thinking of his father living here alone in these past three months, he feels the first threat of tears, but he knows that his father did not mind, that he was not offended by such things. (7.50)
Not much of a home, is it? Gogol is depressed by his father's temporary apartment in Ohio, because it's an empty, lonely place. But it was also the last place his father lived, and that's a hard fact for Gogol to swallow.