“If you are bored and disgusted by politics and don't bother to vote, you are in effect voting for the entrenched Establishments of the two major parties, who please rest assured are not dumb, and who are keenly aware that it is in their interests to keep you disgusted and bored and cynical and to give you every possible reason to stay at home doing one-hitters and watching MTV on primary day. By all means stay home if you want, but don't bullshit yourself that you're not voting. In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote.”
― Up, Simbal!: 7 Days on the Trail of an Anticandidate
― Up, Simbal!: 7 Days on the Trail of an Anticandidate
“The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great, that I thought I was in a dream.”
― On the Road: The Original Scroll
― On the Road: The Original Scroll
“You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.”
― Infinite Jest
― Infinite Jest
“The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you.”
― Infinite Jest
― Infinite Jest
“Fiction is one of the few experiences where loneliness can be both confronted and relieved. Drugs, movies where stuff blows up, loud parties -- all these chase away loneliness by making me forget my name's Dave and I live in a one-by-one box of bone no other party can penetrate or know. Fiction, poetry, music, really deep serious sex, and, in various ways, religion -- these are the places (for me) where loneliness is countenanced, stared down, transfigured, treated.”
―
―
Bernie’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Bernie’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Bernie
Lists liked by Bernie


































