The Book of Goose

by Yiyun Li

America and fame: they are equally useful if you want freedom from your mother.

French bride adds luster to his life, but a French bride chasing goats down a street would be an embarrassment.

sometimes one person’s death is another person’s parole paper. I may not have gained full freedom, but I am free enough.

They went away, they came back, and what happened in between was no one’s business. Our happiness should not be rooted and immobile.

But years and decades are mere words, made-up names for units of measurement. One pound of potato, two cups of flour, three oranges, but what is the measuring unit for hunger? I

Growing up required patience, but even if we had all the patience in the world, where would that lead us?

“All people are sent to the earth to die,” I said. “God even sent his own son to the earth to die.”

What an odd world. People who did not know me found it easy to like me.

Yet in retrospect, with the present to vindicate the past, everyone can claim the illusory status of being a seer.