My grandmother was overwhelmed by what was happening to us. She ahd moved back into the past because the here and the now was too terrible.
Alice HoffmanWhen I read Jerome D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" that was the first time I felt my mind blow open. I thought that book was speaking to me. I was 12 or 13 when I read that. I read everything on my mother's bookshelves.
Alice HoffmanI wonder how a lioness will manage in a dovecote. Can you put away your teeth and claws?
Alice HoffmanSome things you cannot wish away or think away. They become part of you when you remember them.
Alice HoffmanHow could I tell the doctor what was wrong with me? I didn't understand it myself. I couldn't articulate the pain; it was the pain of nothingness. My fear was of the weather, the atmosphere, the very air. What good did safety tips do me now? 'Avoid water, metal objects, rooftops; stay off the telephone in a storm, don't think glass can protect you; even if a storm was 8 miles away, you're still not safe from a strike. Avoid life perhaps that was the answer. The number one safety tip, stay away from it all.
Alice Hoffman