The Fugitives Quotes

“If there’s any greater exhibit of the malleability of human nature than the sight of someone standing, absently waiting for the light to change at a deserted intersection, I don’t know what it is.”
― Christopher Sorrentino, The Fugitives

“Everything is 'smart' now. The library cataloging system is smart, classification and indexing information entered into a uniform online database. People wept and lamented the loss of the old cards, then forgot them. They pretty much forget everything they weep over and lament. Clop-clop of hooves on the street. The humble art of carrying a block of ice up the stairs, pincered by a pair of tongs. Rotary phones and 33 rpm records. Stamp-pad ink and poster paint.”
― Christopher Sorrentino, The Fugitives

“The reflex of comforting him, of assuaging his fears, of forgiving the boy crouched behind the props, took over, and she stubbed in the words, the reassurance and avowals, that would silence him, finally.”
― Christopher Sorrentino, The Fugitives

“Most people's identities were important to them, something they wouldn't shed. It was proud, it was timid, it was laudable, it was stupid. It stuck people with dumb friends and crummy marriages. Trapped them in dead towns and murderous neighborhoods. It manufactured tradition from the uninterrupted drudgery of successive generations. It transformed ignorant belief into folklore, and ignorance itself into defiance. Identity was a trap.”
― Christopher Sorrentino, The Fugitives