Anybody Out There? Quotes

“I couldn’t be with people and I didn’t want to be alone. Suddenly my perspective whooshed and I was far out in space, watching the world. I could see millions and millions of people, all slotted into their lives; then I could see me—I’d lost my place in the universe. It had closed up and there was nowhere for me to be. I was more lost than I had known it was possible for any human being to be.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“I loved being in my own head so much, it was getting harder and harder being with other people.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“Feathery Stokers - There is no definitive list but here are some examples. Men who didn’t eat red meat were Feathery Strokers. Men who used postshave balm instead of slapping stinging aftershave onto their tender skin were Feathery Strokers. Men who noticed your shoes and handbags were Feathery Strokers. (Or Jolly Boys.) Men who said pornography was exploitation of women were Feathery Strokers. (Or liars.) Men who said pornography was exploitation of men as much as women were of the scale. All straight men from San Francisco were Feather Strokers. All academics with beards were Feathery Stokers. Men who stayed friends with their ex-girlfriends were Feathery Strokers. Especially if they called them their “ex-partner.” Men who did Pilates were Feathery Strokers. Men who said, “I have to take care of myself right now” were screaming Feathery Strokers. (Even I’d go along with that.) ~Jacqui”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“I rang my mother to thank her for giving birth to me and she said, "What choice had I? You were in there, how else were you going to get out?”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“Nothing sinister. Just getting exercise. Although some might consider that sinister.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“I'm trying..." How could I put it? "I'm trying to get far enough down the line so that I can remember." I stopped, then continued: "so that I can remember without the pain killing me"

And the days were stacking up. And weeks. And months. It was now almost the middle of June and he'd died in February, but I still felt like I'd just woken from a horrible dream, that I was suspended in that stunned, paralyzed state between sleep and reality where I was grasping for, but couldn't get a handle on normality.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“Devereaux is going with our pitch.”
“Hey, that’s just great,” I said superperkily. “Wendell’s or mine?”
“Yours.”
“But you want to fire me. So fire me.”
“We can’t fire you. They loved you. The head guy, Leonard Daly, thought you were, I quote, ‘a
great kid, very courageous’ and a natural to do a whispering campaign. He said you had
believability.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Why? You’re not quitting!”
I thought about it. “Not if you don’t want me to. Do you?”
Go on, say it.
298 ♥elavanilla♥
“No.”
“No what?”
“No, we don’t want you to quit.”
“Ten grand more, two assistants, and charcoal suits. Take it or leave it.”
Ariella swallowed. “Okay to the money, okay to the assistants, but I can’t green-light charcoal
suits. Formula Twelve is Brazilian, we need carnival colors.”
“Charcoal suits or I’m gone.”
“Orange.”
“Charcoal.”
“Orange.”
“Charcoal.”
“Okay, charcoal.”
It was an interesting lesson in power. The only time you truly have it is when you genuinely
don’t care whether you have it or not.
“Right,” I said. “I’m giving myself the rest of the day off.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“It was only when the salt water of my tears ran into my cuts and made them sting
that I discovered I was crying.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“...as you know, I don't believe in fear, just an invention by men so they get all the money and good jobs...”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“It actually felt harder, not easier, to be with people. The toughest challenge was my face; maintaining a 'normal' expression was utterly exhausting.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“Didn't go in, just hovered outside like homeless person because (a) place was too small and Detta would have spotted me, and (b) once you're through doors of shop like that, if you try to leave without buying anything, they shoot you in the back with sniper's rifle.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“It was an interesting lesson in power. The only time you truly have it is when you genuinely don’t care whether you have it or not.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“A thought struck me: maybe I wouldn't ever be the real me again. Because the only thing that would snap things back to the way they were, would be if he had't died.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“People say it’s the finality of death that they can’t handle. But what was tearing me apart was that I didn’t know where Aidan was. I mean, he had to be somewhere.
All his opinions and thoughts and memories and hopes and feelings, all the things that were unique to him, that made him a one-off human being—they couldn’t be just gone.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“I mean, I knew he’d died but I’d never believed it was permanent”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“Look at me, I believe in the craziest stuff and I have a really fun time.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“People say it’s the finality of death that they can’t handle. But what was tearing me apart was that I didn’t know where Aidan was. I mean, he had to be somewhere.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“They seem like a different race to me and I make sure never to get into disagreements with them, because any puny thing I say gets dashed on the rocks of their robust, shouty certainty.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?

“But to me, butterflies were slightly sneaky; all they were, were moths in embroidered jackets. And, yes, moths were creepy and their flapping wings made a nasty, papery sound – but at least they were honest; they were brown, they were dull, they were stupid (flying into flames at the drop of a hat). All in all, they hadn’t much going for them but they didn’t pretend to be anything other than what they were.”
― Marian Keyes, Anybody Out There?