Start Without Me Quotes

“Reading in public was my favorite pastime. Doing it at home didn’t have the same thrill. Nobody could see me reading a book in my apartment so what was the point. I preferred a crowd. You wouldn’t sing an aria to the couch, would you? I felt similarly about reading. Why waste it on no one? I was more caught up with how I looked reading the book than I was with the actual book.”
― Gary Janetti, Start Without Me

“My hopes of making a new friend are quickly dashed when the guy in the bunk above me lets out a fart so huge it turns the page of my book.”
― Gary Janetti, Start Without Me

“The vibe I’m going for apparently both slut and scholar. I’m a good time, but not too much of a good time. The kind of girl you can take home to Mom. (If Mom is, you know, cool with everything.)”
― Gary Janetti, Start Without Me

“The vibe I’m going for apparently both slut and scholar.”
― Gary Janetti, Start Without Me

“Reading in public was my favorite pastime. Doing it at home didn’t have the same thrill. Nobody could see me reading a book in my apartment so what was the point. I preferred a crowd. You wouldn’t sing an aria to the couch, would you? I felt similarly about reading. Why waste it on no one? I was more caught up with how I looked reading the book than I was with the actual book. Always aware as I turned each page to put on a good show. Laugh just enough to indicate that I’m trying not to laugh in public. Look intently at each page, maybe adorably bite my lip in concentration at certain passages. Let a lock of hair occasionally fall into my eyes that I have to distractedly brush away. And make all of it seem completely natural. As if I’m so immersed in my book that I’m not at all aware of my surroundings. Even though I’ve clocked each person in the restaurant. Every gesture, every look, every tilt of the head is carefully considered for utmost effect. Meryl Streep put less thought into her performance as Karen Silkwood than I did as “person at counter with book.”
― Gary Janetti, Start Without Me