You don't know me, dude," he says, not smiling this time. Gonzo examines his cards, prepping for his next move. "People always think that they know other people, but they don't. Not really. I mean, maybe they know things about them, like they won't eat doughnuts or they like action movies or whatever. But they don't know what their friends do in their rooms alone at night or what happened to them when they were kids or if they feel ****ed up for no reason at all.
Libba BrayEvie didnโt mind yelling, but she hated feeling judged. It got under her skin and made her feel small and ugly and unfixable.
Libba BrayShe was too muchโfor Zenith, Ohio. Sheโd tried at times to make herself smaller, to fit neatly into the ordered lines of expectation. But somehow, she always managed to say or do something outrageousโsheโd accept a dare to climb a flagpole, or make a slightly risquรฉ joke, or go riding in cars with boysโand suddenly she was โthat awful OโNeill girlโ all over again.
Libba BrayPastoralia by George Saunders. Possibly my favorite book. Its one of the weirdest books Ive ever read. If Monty Python and Thomas Pynchon had a love child, and it was raised by Frank Zappa on a weird commune, that would be this book.
Libba Bray