The Dominant Animal Quotes

“The men came molded in their clothes—their skin rigid, their hair all of a piece—but the women were strippable and their skin was prickable and their hair was grippable.”
― Kathryn Scanlan, The Dominant Animal

“When she turns the third time, I read her shirt. She's wide, with breasts that probably give her backaches, and stretched taut across them, in yellow letters: Prepare to defend your chickens.”
― Kathryn Scanlan, The Dominant Animal

“I swallowed some flutes of wine and from a metal plate lifted a single cube of cheese that someone had taken the time to stab with a little pick.
- The First Whiffs of Spring”
― Kathryn Scanlan, The Dominant Animal

“We heard the sound of a window rolling down, a voice calling out. But we couldn't hear what was said, or didn't understand - and besides, it wouldn't be them looking out for us - so we didn't listen. We didn't think to glance back, didn't wonder who was speaking or what was wanted, didn't imagine anything worth stopping for at all.
- Coolly, Bluely”
― Kathryn Scanlan, The Dominant Animal

“The sun made its arc overhead. It came red through our eyelids and sucked us dry. On the shore, we tried to lie still but the creep of our skin - from the legs of insects or their mouths, probing, or the shrinking twitch of our limbs, burning - jostled us until we sat up in groggy irritation. We shielded our eyes. The lake was brown and warm as piss though it glittered coolly, bluely. The stinking muck of the bottom clung to our feet.
- Coolly, Bluely”
― Kathryn Scanlan, The Dominant Animal