Beartown (Beartown, #1)

by Fredrik Backman

Jokes are powerful like that, they can be both inclusive and exclusive. Can create both an Us and a Them.

The most dangerous thing on the ice is being hit when you’re not expecting it. So one of the very first things hockey teaches you is to keep your head up, always. Otherwise—bang.

What an uncomfortable, terrible source of shame it is for the world that the victim is so often the one left with the most empathy for others.