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—
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“You people who have survived childhood don't remeber any longer what it was like. You think children are whole, uncomplicated creatures, and if you split them in two with a handy axe there would be all one substance inside, hard candy. But it isn't hard candy so much as a hopeless seething lava of all kinds of things, a turmoil, a mess. And once the child starts thinking about this mess he begins to disintegrate as a child and turns into something else--an adult, an animal.”
―
―
“If I try to summon back his face, the sound of his voice, and the sensation in my stomach like a key turning in a lock when he touched me, I lose everything.”
― First Love: A Gothic Tale
― First Love: A Gothic Tale
“I don't want to see another church; the smell of the places makes me sick. Stale incense, old sweat, and lies...
"In the Hills, the Cities”
― Books of Blood: Volume One
"In the Hills, the Cities”
― Books of Blood: Volume One
“From Mother you will inherit the belief that you can journey to your fate, there's a place to be located on a map that's destiny. If only you can get there. If it isn't too late. If no one stops you.”
― First Love: A Gothic Tale
― First Love: A Gothic Tale
“What gets me most about these people, Daddy, isn't how ignorant they are, or how much they drink. It's the way they have of thinking that everything nice in the world is a gift to the poor people from them or their ancestors. The first afternoon I was here, Mrs. Buntline made me come out on the back porch and look at the sunset. So I did, and I said I liked it very much, but she kept waiting for me to say something else. I couldn't think of what I was supposed to say, so I said what seemed like a dumb thing. "Thank you very much," I said. That is exactly what she was waiting for. "You're entirely welcome," she said. I have since thanked her for the ocean, the moon, the stars in the sky, and the United States Constitution.”
― God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
― God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Joyce Carol Oates
— 214 members
— last activity May 04, 2026 11:12AM
This is a group for anyone who would like to read and discuss any of Joyce Carol Oates' many wonderful short stories, novels and plays. ...more
Last Book Club on the Left
— 75 members
— last activity Jan 22, 2019 05:51AM
The unofficial book club for fans of Last Podcast on the Left.
Reading the Classics
— 4038 members
— last activity May 10, 2025 07:28AM
This is a group for people who want to read the classics and discuss them as a group. Each month we will choose as a group a book to read. Everyone is ...more
The Novella Club
— 961 members
— last activity Jul 22, 2026 04:46PM
A book group devoted to reading and discussing novellas (one a month). Definition of NOVELLA 1) a story with a compact and pointed plot 2) a work of ...more
Charleston Book Lovers
— 174 members
— last activity Aug 13, 2021 10:25AM
A dynamic group of book lovers in Charleston, S.C., who meet once a month to discuss a book they have chosen.
Ryan’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Ryan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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