Good Neighbors Quotes

“Modern culture is an inverse panopticon. Not a drunk father, but a vigilant mother. The masses elect a single person to the hot seat for their five minutes of fame. We, the periphery, are the judges and jury. Because we’re separated (like prisoners, we can’t connect to each other through these impossible walls), we’ve no option but to connect via the sacrificial lamb we’ve placed dead center. Even when we privately dispute the censure or praise we heap upon them, publicly, we echo popular sentiment. To avoid loneliness, we become a single, unthinking mass. And yet, the mother and father both reveal their very limited ability to connect. The proverbial child cannot attach. We participate in this mass identity, but it does not serve us. Our language is reduced to a series of agreed-upon signs reflecting not nuance, but binaries: like/dislike; good/bad; yes/no. We are even more lonely for the failure of it…”
― Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors

“The song finished playing, and Arlo remembered why it had resonated with so many people. It’s nostalgic for something that isn’t real, and it’s sad about that. Everybody’s nostalgic for glory days that never happened.”
― Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors

“Like, if your life isn’t perfect, you keep your mouth shut and don’t talk about it until it is perfect, and then you brag.”
― Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors

“She’d been grateful to Rhea, for her honesty. Relieved by it, that someone as special and smart as Rhea’d had these same feelings. It’s lonely, being a grown-up. It feels like walking through life in a mask.”
― Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors

“Rhea had understood then why people need friends. They need to be seen and known, and accepted nonetheless. Oh, how she’d craved that unburdening”
― Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors

“They go out into the world expecting adventure, and the patriarchy eats them.”
― Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors

“For a long time, Gertie had blamed herself for Larry. Worried that she'd eaten the wrong things when she was pregnant with him, or been too stressed out. She'd yelled too often and tweaked his nervous system in the wrong direction when he'd been little, or she'd not been affectionate enough and because of that he couldn't connect with others. After the accusation, she'd even worried Arlo had done something to him.
But now, Julia's homemade Robot Boy in his arms, vigilant and cheerful behind his heavy eyelids, she saw that he was the perfect incarnation of all of them. A misfit, who never stops trying.”
― Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors

“For a long time, Gertie had blamed herself for Larry. Worried that she'd eaten the wrong things when she was pregnant with him, or been too stressed out. She'd yelled too often and tweaked his nervous system in the wrong direction when he'd been little, or she'd not been affectionate enough and because of that he couldn't connect with others. After the accusation, she'd even worried Arlo had done something to him.
But now, Julia's homemade Robot Boy in his ars, vigilant and cheerful behind his heavy eyelids, she saw that he was the perfect incarnation of all of them. A misfit, who never stops trying.”
― Sarah Langan, Good Neighbors