Let’s look at another example of dashes being used to expand on something in the middle of a sentence. Here again we get a list.
I couldn't get her what she needed most—hot baths, a warm bed, steaming bowls of Cream of Wheat before school in the morning—but I tried to do little things.
But let's look at another pattern in this snippet: what Jeanette Walls could and couldn't do.
I couldn't get all the fighting props we needed—silk capes, themed masks, groin guards in a range of colours and sizes—but I did manage to get a towel.
I couldn't stop the possum eating everything in the tuckshop—Zinger burgers, fruit rollups, about six litres of chocolate milk—but I locked the doors so it couldn't escape.
I couldn't do the old dances—Rumba, Salsa, something Kathryn called the Southern Fried Polka—but I was okay with the street styles.
