My final word: don't follow your dreams . . . chase them. With a stick, or a shovel, or whatever you have handy. Get that [bleep]ing dream!

Stuart, who had just witnessed me go through an entire rainbow of emotions and experiences. There was parents-have-just-been-jailed me, stuck-in-a-strange-town me, insane-and-can't-shut-up me, kind-of-snarky-to-the-strange-guy-trying-to-be-helpful me, breakup me, and the extremely popular jump-on-top-of-you-unexpectedly me.

This pool is a triumph of imagination. That's how you win at life, Gin. You have to imagine your way through. Never say something can't be done. There's always a solution, even if it's weird.

It was like the entire world was colluding to make me feel insane, and it was doing a really good job.

Once again, her parents' problems had run through her life like a piece of heavy equipment, smashing everything in their way.

A woman who shaves or otherwise depilates her pubic curls has a profound interest in recreational sex.

This wasn't a position she wanted to be in. And yet . . . yet she knew that she was going to do it anyway.