William Kotzwinkle > Quotes

“Writing is magic for those willing to follow their imagination to a region where anything is possible.”
― William Kotzwinkle

“Their leader wore a Nazi helmet and had renamed himself Heimlich in honor of the man who ran the SS, not knowing he'd confused the Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choke victims and Heinrich Himmler.”
― William Kotzwinkle, The Bear Went Over the Mountain

“I'm cracking up in this fucking Fishbinder Problem Box. A terrible seizure is coming on, I can feel its sinister pulsation creeping up my spine as I gnaw my tail apprehensively, grinding my teeth with anxiety, wishing I had some DDT to drown these rats in misery, repetitive cycles of poetry, symptoms of psychotic activity, rhyming of lines endlessly, results in Mazes D and E, dervish spinning round me vis-a-vis, Poole, Broome, Helvicki, help me, please, somebody, take a look at my pedigree, Albino Number 243, Doctor of Psychology, rashes, warts, and a small goatee, expert in lobotomy, performed six times on a chimpanzee, sweet land of liberty, Jesus this is agony, poisonous snake subfamily, here he comes after me!”
― William Kotzwinkle, Dr. Rat

“And still others heard: dreeeple zoonnnnnnggggggg ummmmmtwrrrdssss
Calling from the beyond
Whatever it was, it touched E.T.'s healing finger, and caused it to glow.
He healed himself.”
― William Kotzwinkle, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial In His Adventure On Earth

“Dear old Uncle Skulky, man, is the impossibly mad relative we all have sleeping in our souls.”
― William Kotzwinkle, The Fan Man

“The wave came again and carried them out onto the sea of pain, where he wondered again why life ever came into the world...The tide that drew them out into the troubled waters once again spent itself, and they floated slowly back, resting for a minute or so, only to be dragged out again. He held her up while she contracted and pushed inside herself, trying to open the petals of her flowering body...He lifted her, trying to free the load she was struggling with, but she was straining against the traces, getting nowhere, her eyes like those of a draft horse...Who would choose this, thought Laski, this work, this woe? Life enslaves us, makes us want children, gives us a thousand illusions about love, and all so that it can go forward.”
― William Kotzwinkle, Swimmer in the Secret Sea

“How's it going, man."

"They found a carrot in my brain."

"Sounds like a weird trip.”
― William Kotzwinkle, Elephant Bangs Train

“There's no reason why you can't have another child." Laski listened numbly. He thinks that's what has been at stake, our wish for a child, any child, not this particular child who swung down the road between us. They can't know how special he was. They point to the future. But we're here, forever, now. The nurse slipped Diane onto the wheeled table. "I have a needle for you," said the nurse. "No," said Diane, still refusing any anesthetic. "It's to dry up your milk," said the nurse.”
― William Kotzwinkle, Swimmer in the Secret Sea

“Some critics may say Noonday was mad. He was not. Toweringly weird, yes--mad, no. He saw that in five years he would attain the Presidency of the University. Form there he could embark on a career leading straight to the White House, that High Seat of the Lie, open only to holders of the Third Degree of Falsehood.”
― William Kotzwinkle, Elephant Bangs Train

“Hardly had they rested when the waves carried them out again, like a nightmare that repeats itself over and over through the night, and over and over again through the years. Back and forth they went and he feared that her strength could not hold. He had no confidence, not in himself, nor in her. He felt like a helpless child, and Diane seemed helpless too, their long struggle getting them nowhere, only repeating itself--contraction, release, contraction again.”
― William Kotzwinkle, Swimmer in the Secret Sea

“La Milice Rebelle passe devant moi dans un bruit de tonnerre, continuant à ouvrir les cages et à en libérer les occupants. S'en vont les lapins qui auraient dû être ébouillantés vifs demain. Ceci va faire considérablement reculer l'étude gouvernementale sur le coup de chaleur. Il est indispensable que nous continuions à vérifier des faits établis depuis un siècle. Ces vérifications sont essentielles à la défense nationale. Nous avons derrière nous une longue et glorieuse histoire de lapins cuits, brûlés et ébouillantés. Et nous devons trouver de nouvelles méthodes de cuisson, de brûlure et d'ébouillantage.
Sinon comment pourrions-nous faire part de nos progrès au Congrès ?”
― William Kotzwinkle, Dr. Rat