Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
Ben Kohns
http://www.defyingatrophy.com
Every year the hunters shot cows and horses and family pets and each other. And, unbelievably, they sometimes shot themselves, perhaps in a psychotic episode where they mistook themselves for dinner.
“She told me not long ago, “I’m not suicidal, but sometimes I wish I was dead.” This is the point beyond exhaustion, when you can’t see how you’ll ever fill up again. And then she does, through what she calls lunch-money faith: nothing dramatic, and just enough.”
― Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage
― Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage
“You pay twenty-five dollars to hear one of my heroes, Thich Nhat Hanh, say: “When you walk, just walk.” You think: I paid good money for this? Notice your feet as they connect to the earth? Left foot, right foot, breathe? Crazy.”
― Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage
― Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage
“She said that wanting to be liked was a weakness of character.”
― My Evil Mother
― My Evil Mother
“This is what the things can teach us: to fall, patiently to trust our heaviness. Even a bird has to do that before he can fly.”
― A Year with Rilke
― A Year with Rilke
“Sometimes we have to get cancer or have a heart attack to stop the train of wired meaninglessness, to stop faking or stuffing it all back down.”
― Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage
― Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage
Ben’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Ben’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Biography, Classics, Contemporary, Fiction, History, Memoir, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, and Thriller
Polls voted on by Ben
Lists liked by Ben


























