Joe Hobson

“One of my friends lost her virginity when she was twelve to her older brother’s nineteen-year-old friend. She said he crept into her bedroom in the middle of the night and took her virginity. At the time I thought that sounded so cool, but now I can see clearly that she was raped. There was such a fine line between cool and raped in those days. We had no idea that certain behavior was inappropriate because it was all normal to us.”
― Laura Chinn, Acne

“Our family was an organic, free-range, humanely sourced kind of family. The kind of family who uses plant-based cleaners that aren’t strong enough to actually degrease anything so every pot and pan has a sort of waxy sheen on it forever. My parents were hippies and didn’t do anything according to the status quo. I’m pretty sure my father still wakes up every morning, checks in on what the entire world is doing, and then does the opposite.”
― Laura Chinn, Acne

“Mr. Head could have said to it that age was a choice blessing and that only with years does a man enter into that calm understanding of life that makes him a suitable guide for the young. This, at least, had been his own experience.”
― Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

“She had a very childlike face, and in our pedophiliac culture, looking like a child is every woman’s beauty goal. But she grew up in a tough environment, so to offset her cherubic face, she intentionally deepened her voice and cursed more than any adult I knew. She looked like an American Girl doll and talked like a crusty old war veteran who had seen too much. She had the worldly confidence of a much older girl and she got even more confident when her full pubic bush grew in.”
― Laura Chinn, Acne