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Tom Quinn

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Tom is Currently Reading

Tom Quinn is currently reading

Bluebeard

by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 5th time

read in 2006

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Tom Quinn said: " I'd call this Vonnegut's sweetest novel, but then again I'm a big ol' softie.

5 stars. He's made similar points before but this one ends up achingly tender. Really shows Vonnegut's range and skill, plucking heartstrings so forcefully with so few words ...more "

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"Splurged a bit at the used bookstore cuz this cover art is dope." — May 15, 2026 07:47PM

May 15, 2026 07:43PM · see review

Tom’s Notes & Highlights

Book cover for The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity

The Eden Express: A Memoir of Insanity by Mark Vonnegut

1 highlight

Realizing the transient nature of material things helps for a while, but it’s got its limits.

C.R. and 6 other people liked this

See Tom Quinn’s 18 books with notes and highlights…

Tom’s Quotes

“You come in all clammed up, defences in depth, alibi-systems long established, delusions full-blown. In order to have a chance of staying sober, or rather of staying dry and becoming sober, you've got to change. Nobody likes to change. What you really want, when you come into hospital, even for the second or third or ninth time, is to stay just who you are and not drink. That's not possible, of course. Jack-Who-Drinks has got to alter into Jack-Who-Does-Not-Drink-And-Likes-It.”
― John Berryman, Recovery

tags: alcoholics-anonymous, alcoholism, recovery

2 likes

“Place no dependence on your own genius, even if you possess it. If you have great talents, industry will improve them; if you have but moderate talents, industry will supply their deficiency--nothing is denied to well directed labor; nothing is obtained without it.”
― Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine

1 likes

“It's not years nor days, but the mind, that determines that we've lived enough.”
― Seneca, How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life

21 likes

“Let me advise you to commence at once observing for yourself.
Don't trust what you are told in lectures, or read in books, but make the knowledge your own, by your own labors.
Lectures and books will serve as guides and beacons, but the goals can only be reached by travelling the road yourself.”
― Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine

1 likes

“If you could take one ride in a time machine, which way would you go? The future or the past? Sally forth or turn back?...Do you prefer the costumed pageant of history or the techno-marvels to come? It seems there are two kinds of people. Both camps have their optimists as well as their pessimists. Disease is a worry. Time traveling while black or female poses special hazards. Then again, some people see ways to make money at lotteries, stock markets, and racetracks. Some just want to relive past loves. Many back travelers are driven by regret—mistakes made, opportunities lost.”
― James Gleick, Time Travel: A History

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