Marlon James "A Brief History of Seven Killings"
My mother sings One day at a time sweet Jesus, and even Daddy likes to say that, one day at a time, as if it’s some strategy for living. And yet the quickest way to not live at all is to take life one day at a time. It’s the way I’ve discovered to not do a damn thing. If you can break a day down into quarters, then hours, then half hours, then minutes, you can chew down any stretch of time to bite size. It’s like dealing with losing a man. If you can bear it for one minute, then you can swallow two, then five, then another five and on and on. If I don’t want to think about my life, I don’t have to think about life at all, just hold for one minute, then two, then five, then another five, before you know it, a month can pass and you don’t even notice because you’ve only been counting minutes.
- Original Rockers - Nina Burgess - p. 103
I have a theory that while a man might not always get the wife he wants or needs, he always gets the wife he deserves.
- Ambush in the night - Barry Diflorio - p. 176
I am slowly realizing that even though the Singer is the centre of the story, it really isn’t his story. Like there’s a version of this story that’s not really about him, but about the people around him, the ones who come and go that might actually provide a bigger picture than me asking him why smokes ganja.
- Ambush in the night - Alex Pierce - p. 220
[Josey Wales:] - Papa-Lo is the reason why we living fine in the ghetto. Papa-Lo is the reason that when I flush that toilet I never have to look at shit again. You take that for granted, eh, white boy? That once you press a lever you never have to think about your shit again.
- Shadow dancin’ - Alex Pierce - p. 389