U.S.! Quotes

“He took a minute to figure out which direction he was headed, and then he began walking the gravel shoulder, thinking not at the slash tires, which happened at least once every tour, but of his performance that evening, his abandoned set list. He didn’t want to feel proud about it, but neither did he want to feel ashamed. Those two girls who had left — were they right? He could call them immature, but he’s the one who had played Journey. At one point years ago he had been like those girls, resolute in his determination of the Good and the Correct. Had he, since that time, gained something or lost something? Had he matured or surrendered?”
― Chris Bachelder, U.S.!: Songs and Stories

“They felt that it was overwhelming evidence for something, that it proved something beyond any reasonable doubt, but they were not sure what.”
― Chris Bachelder, U.S.!: Songs and Stories

“You live long enough, every day is the anniversary of some thing.”
― Chris Bachelder, U.S.!: Songs and Stories

“We don’t think of ourselves as part of a movement. Here is our politics: We do not want to be lied to anymore by shithead liars. Also: We’re so goddamn tired.”
― Chris Bachelder, U.S.!: Songs and Stories

“One does end up sympathizing with Harold, though not for the reasons that Sinclair intends. Harold's great conflict is not that he is trapped within a ruthless economic system, but that he is trapped within a ruthless novel, a structure infinitely more dehumanizing, rigid, and predetermined that the capitalism it denounces. The wonderful thing about America is that you always have a shot, while the dreadful thing about a Sinclair novel is that you don't. Poor Harold, he was born into a Socialist novel. Kid never had a chance.”
― Chris Bachelder, U.S.!: Songs and Stories

“He said a political writer must be careful. He quoted Auden: A writer's politics are more dangerous to him than his cupidity. He said, Political sentimentality is as bad as any other kind. You have to acknowledge ambiguity, complexity. There is a kind of death that creeps into your prose when you're trying to illustrate a principle, no matter how worthy.”
― Chris Bachelder, U.S.!: Songs and Stories