The War for Gloria Quotes

“But now, as he thought about Molly, he felt he had to do something bigger—something of which prizefighting was merely a subcomponent: warfare at its highest level—expeditionary, total, encompassing the realms of sea, air, land—even space—something so great it could kill him, forcing him to overcome with finality the inner weakness and self-regard that had allowed him to fail everyone around him—a path to honor, invincibility, pride and moral purity—where his father had indulged in scandal, obscenity and dysfunction.”
― Atticus Lish, The War for Gloria

“During the day, now that he wasn’t working, he had to drive to Star, buy food, prepare it. Strip the sheets, drive to the laundromat, do the laundry. Feed his mom. Give her fluids. Wash the dishware. Take her to the bathroom. Change her clothes. Bathe her. Comb her hair, brush her teeth. Pay electric bill. Gas bill. Phone bill. Get a letter from insurance and not know if it was a bill. What was a claim exactly? Must it be paid? Who to ask? Not know this either. Get email from MassHealth saying they had exceeded their allotted home health aide coverage and would be billed. Know this was a mistake. Not know how to fix it—and nor did Joan who was leaving now for work. Find out they were paying for Gloria’s Robitussin when he had thought it was covered by insurance. Check the bank account and see it was lower, much lower, than he had thought...”
― Atticus Lish, The War for Gloria

“The story of the episode came back to him in exaggerated form, with him an even bigger fool, a mark, getting played for even more of his mother's money. His friendship with Dave Dunbar ended.”
― Atticus Lish, The War for Gloria