quotes
"He was not only not the person they thought he was (rich, lucky, shrewd), he was not the person he thought he was, either (useless, damaged, doomed). The truth was somewhere midway, and for the first time in his life he realized that he did not own it."
The Autograph Man
by Zadie Smith
page 299, last paragraph
hardcover first U.S. edition published by Random House, 2002
quotes
"It's not an accident. It's a decision I made, he says. A vain decision to suffer."
The Autograph Man
by Zadie Smith
page 280, eighth paragraph
hardcover first U.S. edition published by Random House, 2002
quotes
"He makes notes in his pad about the lunch he has just had, the scraps of conversation he is already forgetting, the deviousness of his bet friend, the significances of this and this, the symbolism of that and the other. It is all a sort of horrible betrayal of himself, of his whole life. Life is not just symbol, Jewish or goyish. Life is more than just a Chinese puzzle. Not everything fits. Not every road leads to epiphany. This isn't TV, Alex, this isn't TV.
Oh, so now, thinks Alex, you're having an epiphany about the importance of not having epiphanies. That's great.
Feeling glum and muddled, Alex begins walking at a clip, wishing he could get over himself, get out of himself, get out of his skin, just for a minute."
The Autograph Man
by Zadie Smith
page 151, middle of first paragraph
hardcover first U.S. edition published by Random House, 2002
quotes
"He understood that in all likelihood this sort of thinking would lead him to die lonely, without anyone. He told himself the story that this was the great tragedy of his heart. The great tragedy of his heart was that it always needed to be told a story."
The Autograph Man
by Zadie Smith
page 85, end of second paragraph
hardcover first U.S. edition published by Random House, 2002
All nerves on the way there.
All second guessing and self berating on the way back.
Life has been trying to teach me to be okay with uncertainty and ambiguity for years.
And it just isn't taking.
Ugh.
Keep getting red faced.
You're in trouble, son.
Another train
Like
Right
There
And I've never been good with knots.
