Eric Taub

“Self-preservation starts very early in West Indian families.”
― Audre Lorde, Zami

“My all was no great shakes, but Coach made me want to die trying. The big teeth finally fit his mouth, and busted out shining like sun through clouds. Unforgettable. The way he looked past my arms and legs into the soul of the General I might be, totally tuned in on me and the ball between us, curve of a wrist, turn of a head. And I saw the General he’d been on this field once, pumping a crowd, flashing those teeth at some girl in the stands that would steam up his truck in the postgame ceremony. Angus’s mom, I thought. Wondering, was she a cheerleader or what.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead

“Kiara,” Elaine Brown’s hair heir said, waving her magazine.”
― Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl

“Smaller than Evie, overall. Much smaller than Davy. So if you collided with her there could be no injury to yourself, you felt only a small thrill of pleasure at the pliant warmth of another’s being with no recourse but to give way to you without protest.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, Zero-Sum: Stories