“We loved killing time and had perfected several ways of doing so. We wandered the hallways carrying papers that indicated some mission of business when in reality we were in search of free candy. We refilled our coffee mugs on floors we didn’t belong on. Hank Neary was an avid reader. He arrived early in his brown corduroy coat with a book taken from the library, copied all its pages on the Xerox machine, and sat at his desk reading what looked to the passerby like the honest pages of business. He made it through a three-hundred-page novel every two … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature

“There is something that happens to the mind in moments of terror. Perhaps we figure out it’s the last we’ll ever have and we record it for the rest of our long journey. We take perfect snapshots, an album to despair over. We trim the edges and place them in plastic. We tuck the scrapbook away to take out in our ruined times.” –Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin, 2009 “STOP! DON’T READ THIS SINISTER SHOCKER! NOT UNLESS YOU’RE PREPARED TO LIVE ON THE EDGE OF A NIGHTMARE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! WHERE THERE IS AN UNENDURABLE … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature

“The women cross their ankles, their flats kicked off and carried by Sissy back to the foyer, where they are paired and lined in rows: Pappagallos in various colors, sandals with daisies chiseled in the cowhide, or bright, artificial flowers attached to the straps. Now in the soft glow of the lighted room, the women’s feet, bare and colored at the toe, caress the Corsican rug. They have had another round of drinks; they are trying to think of what to say next.” –Kate Walbert, A Short History of Women, 2009 “AND I DON’T USE GUNS–THE INSANE WEAPON OF AN … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature

“Outside the morning was bright. I liked the holy, rejoicing look of it: the many gray Christmases of my childhood had depressed me. And apparently not just me: one year the holiday card my mother sent out was an October photo of my brother and me, with a caption that read The children. In some dead leaves.” –Lorrie Moore, A Gate at the Stairs, 2009 “SPEAKING IS A PRECIOUS WASTE OF SILENCE. IT IS DIRTY, IMPURE TRANQUILITY. BESIDES, YOU’RE NOT PEOPLE. SO JUST REMEMBER THAT I’M NOT SPEAKING TO YOU. SERENITY, SHATTERED WITH A CHAOS OF SOUND.” –Doug Moench, MARVEL … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature

“There is no way to describe the way she walked except as a kind of brave sensual trudging: as if she were nose-deep in snowdrifts, and yet on route to meet a lover. She came up the dead center of the mall, her gray coat fluttering a little in a breeze off the Jersey coast. Her high heels hit precise and neat each time on the X’s of the grating in the middle of the mall. Half a year in the city and at least she had learned to do that. Had lost heels, and once in a while composure, … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature

“I tried to give advice, I really did. Nothing too complicated. Like, Stop hollering at strange girls on the street, and don’t bring up the Beyonder any more than necessary. Did he listen? Of course not! Trying to talk sense to Oscar about girls was like trying to throw rocks at Unus the Untouchable. Dude was impenetrable. He’d hear me out and then shrug. Nothing else has any efficacy, I might as well be myself.” –Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 2007 “NEVER HAVE I HEARD SUCH WORDS…SENSED SUCH COURAGE…OR KNOWN THIS STRANGE FEELING…THIS NEW EMOTION…! THERE … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature

“It was all I could think of to say. I turned away from this woman and went to the bathroom, where I ran hot water over my hands, which is something I like to do in the colder months, it just makes me feel a little bit better. Then I touched my face with my warmed hands. It calms me down, it’s just this very normal thing that I do.” –Rivka Galchen, Atmospheric Disturbances, 2008 “ON THE SURFACE, THIS MAY SEEM TO BE A SUPER-HERO ACTION THRILLER! BUT, IF YOU PROBE DOWN DEEP, IF YOU ANALYZE EACH SUBTLE NUANCE, IF … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature