Ben Rehder > Quotes

“As long as you keep giving in,” he said, “and as long as you keep rewarding her bad behavior, then she’s going to keep right on doing it. Wouldn’t you?”
― Ben Rehder, Gone the Next

“Ninety-five percent of the people I deal with are shitbags who think the world is their personal litter box. I can’t do them any good, and they don’t want me to.”
― Ben Rehder, Gone the Next

“...the past year or so that make me think Leigh Anne might be having an affair.” “What kind of things?” “She’s always been a big shopper, but now she’s going several times a week. Always going to Austin or San Antone. I know she does actually go shopping sometimes, because she comes home with bags of stuff. Other times, nothing. She says she was just looking.” “Well, you know, women do that. They can shop for ten hours and come home with one item ...”
― Ben Rehder, Hog Heaven

“I”
― Ben Rehder, Get Busy Dying

“You almost forgot to split those eights,” Red replied. “Did not. I’d do that in my sleep.” “Then why did you pause for a second?” “Was thinking about supper.” “You just had lunch.” “Exactly. So thinking about supper is only logical. It wouldn’t make any sense if I was thinking about breakfast, would it?”
― Ben Rehder, Bum Steer

“Capgras delusion is a psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member (or pet) has been replaced by an identical impostor.”
― Ben Rehder, Lefty Loosey

“As the sun set, Red and Billy Don sat on the rickety front porch of Red’s mobile home and pondered what they had learned that afternoon. Red suspected, if he was being accurate, that he was the only one really doing any pondering. Billy Don was just sitting there, not thinking about much at all, the same way a dog does. He could keep that behavior up for hours. Just sit and not think. Occasionally Billy Don would lift his beer to his mouth, but that didn’t require a whole bunch of brain cells.”
― Ben Rehder, Stag Party

“When they broke for lunch—eating bologna sandwiches and pork rinds on the tailgate of Red’s truck, parked in the shade of an enormous oak tree—Red shook his head and said, “I’m drawing a blank so far.” “Me, too,” Billy Don said. “Wait a sec,” Red said. “You don’t even know what I’m talking about.” “I guess that’s why I’m drawing a blank,” Billy Don said.”
― Ben Rehder, Stag Party

“Question for you,” Marlin said. “Any chance Harley Frizzell was struck with a cane?” He had stopped for a visit with Lem Tucker at the Blanco County morgue, which had previously been a Dairy Queen many years earlier. The only equipment that remained from those days was the walk-in freezer, which had obviously come in handy. Somebody had finally scraped the friendly “Y’all come back” sticker off the inside of the glass front door.”
― Ben Rehder, Stag Party

“Mandy was in her early thirties and pretty in a late-night beer joint sort of way. She had a full figure and hair the color of blanched almonds.”
― Ben Rehder, Last Laugh

“Unsettled. On edge. A bundle of nerves. He had butterflies turning somersaults in his belly. He would describe the uneasy feeling as trepidation, if he were familiar with that particular word and knew what it meant.”
― Ben Rehder, Stag Party

“I’d say the guy was just plain nuts. Who wants to die for some stupid bird?” “I bet he didn’t think it was a stupid bird,” Garrett said, “especially if he traveled all the way down here from Minnesota to protect it.” By this point, Red was pretty sure he and Garrett would not get along on a long-term basis. “Little son of a bitch cared more about birds than people,” Red said. “That kind of thing—taking a stand—changes the world,” Garrett said. “Think of the guy in Tiananmen Square.” “Where?” Red asked. “Or the students at Kent State.” “Never heard of it,” Red said. “Or Nathan Hale,” Garrett said. “The Skipper on Gilligan’s Island?” “Or, hey, what about the men at the Alamo?” Damn it. That was a good point.”
― Ben Rehder, Free Ride

“Red and Billy Don stopped first at their favorite hub of social activity in Johnson City—the feed store. “Don’t steal anything,” Red said as he opened the glass door. “Why do you always say that?” Billy Don asked. “Because it’s what my daddy used to say to me, wherever we went. It’s funny.” Red’s father had been a rodeo clown, and his sense of humor had been every bit as subtle as a big red nose.”
― Ben Rehder, Point Taken