Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

by Jonathan Safran Foer

love that story, because it shows how ignorant people can be. And also because I love tortoises.

“You’re incredibly beautiful,” I told her, because she was fat, so I thought it would be an especially nice compliment, and also make her like me again, even though I was sexist.

“It probably gets pretty lonely to be anyone.”

did not consider that the past might have a need for me.

He looked at me and through me at the same time, like I was a stained-glass window.

“He had cells, and now they’re on rooftops, and in the river, and in the lungs of millions of people around New York, who breathe him every time they speak!”

My life story was spaces.

I knew they were cracking up in the bad way, which is at me, but I tried to maintain my confidence.

creating a trail of things I wasn’t able to tell you,

I could hear it in his voice, in my voice, in your voice, I

I’m sorry, if that’s true, the last thing I would have wanted was for you to be like me, I left so you could be you.

because I was happier believing he was there than finding out for sure.

Mom and Ron were hanging out in the family room, even though he wasn’t part of our family.

As we drove, I imagined we were standing still and the world was coming toward us.

and how names are basically the only thing that dead people keep.