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“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
― God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
― God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
“At least," Mother said, "that's the story Aunt Esther tells."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Isn't it true?"
"Stories are never 'true'," Mother said. "But they may, almost by accident, contain 'truth'. Sometimes.”
― First Love: A Gothic Tale
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Isn't it true?"
"Stories are never 'true'," Mother said. "But they may, almost by accident, contain 'truth'. Sometimes.”
― First Love: A Gothic Tale
“You people who have survived childhood don't remeber any longer what it was like. You think children are whole, uncomplicated creatures, and if you split them in two with a handy axe there would be all one substance inside, hard candy. But it isn't hard candy so much as a hopeless seething lava of all kinds of things, a turmoil, a mess. And once the child starts thinking about this mess he begins to disintegrate as a child and turns into something else--an adult, an animal.”
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“I don't want to see another church; the smell of the places makes me sick. Stale incense, old sweat, and lies...
"In the Hills, the Cities”
― Books of Blood: Volume One
"In the Hills, the Cities”
― Books of Blood: Volume One
“Eliot did to the word love what the Russians did to the word democracy. If Eliot is going to love everybody, no matter what they are, no matter what they do, then those of us who love particular people for particular reasons had better find ourselves a new word." He looked at an oil painting of his deceased wife. "For instance- I loved her more than I love our garbage collector, which makes me guilty of the most unspeakable of modern crimes: Dis-crim-i-nay-tion.”
― God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
― God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Joyce Carol Oates
— 214 members
— last activity May 04, 2026 11:12AM
This is a group for anyone who would like to read and discuss any of Joyce Carol Oates' many wonderful short stories, novels and plays. ...more
Last Book Club on the Left
— 76 members
— last activity Jan 22, 2019 05:51AM
The unofficial book club for fans of Last Podcast on the Left.
Reading the Classics
— 4041 members
— last activity May 10, 2025 07:28AM
This is a group for people who want to read the classics and discuss them as a group. Each month we will choose as a group a book to read. Everyone is ...more
The Novella Club
— 961 members
— last activity 2 hours, 33 min ago
A book group devoted to reading and discussing novellas (one a month). Definition of NOVELLA 1) a story with a compact and pointed plot 2) a work of ...more
Charleston Book Lovers
— 174 members
— last activity Aug 13, 2021 10:25AM
A dynamic group of book lovers in Charleston, S.C., who meet once a month to discuss a book they have chosen.
Ryan’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Ryan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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