Catarina | cat literary world’s Reviews > Katabasis > Status Update

“No one went into academia if they wanted to get rich.”

“You got used to just anything in a lab. Anyhow, they were only mice.”

“But the problem with animal experimentation was that there was only so much that lesser creatures could do.”

“Academic lineage mattered so much in the right circles.”

“There was this question of whether all this was character-building asceticism or simply the demands of poverty, since none of the graduate students made close to a living wage. But nobody liked to talk about that.”

“Everyone liked to pretend they did not exist outside of their research, that their earthly bodies had no wants at all.”

“Fortunately graduate school had prepared her for this, the constant managing of despair.”

“Those who had nothing substantial to brag about bragged the loudest.”

“For one of them had to keep the cheer; one of them had to be delusional. This was the key to flourishing in graduate school. You could do anything if you were delusional.”

“No one ever suggested that perhaps, in addition to doing his research, Professor Grimes should have been fulfilling his duties as a teacher.”