Herman Raucher > Quotes

“Life is made up of many comings and goings and for everything that we take with us,we must leave something behind”
― Herman Raucher, Summer of '42

“She became aware of his hands, moving up both sides of her, sliding up from her waist to her rib cage. Bad news. Instinctively she knew that it was "either-or." Either she opened her mouth and let the mad tongue in--or he was going to, sure as God made little apples, grab her little apples. The choice, she knew, was hers--for he lingered there, simultaneously, in both areas of combat, as if to say, "You have five seconds, take your pick.”
― Herman Raucher

“His teeth were now rattling on hers: knock-knock, who's there? Bicuspids. Bicuspids who? Bicuspids McAllister. And then his tongue came flicking out, looking for an opening, any opening, even a missing tooth. But she had no missing teeth and all the teeth she did have were clenched together as in a snapped bear trap.”
― Herman Raucher, Ode to Billy Joe

“The wonderful thing about being isolated is that, whatever you do, you’re right. And if you’re not, then neither are you wrong, because there’s no bigmouth around to throw it up to you.”
― Herman Raucher, Maynard's House

“In honor of New England, he selected a can of baked beans, prying it from its clam-tight place with diligence and vindictives. He opened it, set it on the stove top, and allowed it to simmer right in the can—until the bubbling sound of it and the molasses-sweet smell of it overpowered his senses. Then he plunged into it with a wooden spoon and ate it all like a hungry terrier, surprised at the slurping noises that came out of him, glad that his mother was in Ohio.”
― Herman Raucher, Maynard's House

“Some people are stupid but they know it and can deal with it. They are the smart stupid people. The stupid stupid people are those who are so stupid that they think they’re smart. Holdoffer not only fell into that category, he owned it.”
― Herman Raucher, There should have been castles

“In the morning he would forget all of it—but the night was not yet over. And somewhere in the darkest, iciest low part of it, when even owls and loons were prompted to noiselessness out of either fear or respect, he slipped deeper into sleep, as deep into it as a man could go without losing all chance of coming back. Still, even in the pit of it, he could hear and identify the sound. The rocker, creaking.”
― Herman Raucher, Maynard's House

“It’s strange how spring and autumn are so alike and yet such inversions. You can wake up on a day in either April or October—the air, the temperature, it can all be identical and yet you know there’s a difference.”
― Herman Raucher, There should have been castles

“But the beans—ah, the beans. And the pickles—oh, the pickles. And the grapefruit juice, and the coffee, and the Dr. Jekyllish formulation of all that Austin had so cavalierly tossed into his maw left no doubt in his head that nature was not only calling—she was screaming bloody murder.”
― Herman Raucher, Maynard's House

“He tried to avoid the eyes of the weather-beaten old Yankee. With guys like that around, no wonder the British ended up with all their fucking tea in Boston Harbor.”
― Herman Raucher, Summer of '42

“And still he persisted, his tongue now dancing over her teeth as though it were something prescribed by four out of five dentists to brighten her smile. It poked left and right but she would not allow it in. And behind her teeth her tongue lay trembling, like the last little pig with the wolf banging at the door.”
― Herman Raucher, Ode to Billy Joe

“When he got back to his Mercedes, a single sea gull was flapping and squawking in the sky, and a big blast of shit was already beginning to harden on the car’s windshield. Someone had remembered him after all, and he cried all the way home.”
― Herman Raucher, Summer of '42

“Outside, in and about the snow and the dark, where fancies dangled and fear hung over the starched snow in rolling mists, something was coming to pass.”
― Herman Raucher, Maynard's House