Sara Gruen
I am further back, surrounded on all sides by wailing men, their faces shiny with tears. Uncle Al promised three dollars and a bottle of Canadian whiskey to the man who puts on the best show. You've never seen such grief-- even the dogs were howling.Collection: Dog
Although there are times I'd give anything to have her back, I'm glad she went first. Losing her was like being cleft down the middle. It was the moment it all ended for me, and I wouldn't have wanted her to go through that.Collection: Elephants
I roll onto my side and stare out the venetian blinds at the blue sky beyond. After a few minutes I'm lulled into a sort of peace. The sky, the sky--same as it always was.Collection: Blue
What else do I have to offer? Nothing happens to me anymore. That’s the reality of getting old, and I guess that’s really the crux of the matter. I’m not ready to be old yet.Collection: Reality
When I first submerged my feet into frigid water, they hurt so badly I yanked them out again. I persisted, dunking them for longer and longer periods, until the cold finally blistered.Collection: Hurt
Is where you're from the place you're leaving or where you have roots?Collection: Roots
I just can't. I'm married. I made my bed and now I have to lie in it.Collection: Lying
The whole thing's illusion, [Jacob], and there's nothing wrong with that. It's what people want from us. It's what they expect.Collection: People
...poking a lump of red Jello that jiggles outrageously, like a breast I once knew.Collection: Jello
With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not.Collection: Truth
I look after those who look after me." He smacks his lips, stares at me, and adds, "I also look after those who don't." - Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants)Collection: Elephants
I strain to hear, but my old ears, for all their obscene hugeness, pick up nothing but snippets.Collection: Ears
... a gaggle of old ladies is glued to the window at the end of the hall like children or jailbirds. They're spidery and frail, their hair as fine as mist. Most of them are a good decade younger than me, and this astounds me. Even as your body betrays you, your mind denies it.--There are five of them now, white headed old things huddled together and pointing crooked fingers at the glass.Collection: Children
Being the survivor stinks.Collection: Survivor
How hard can it be to find a girl and an elephant for Christ's sake?Collection: Girl
The sky the sky- same as it always was.Collection: Sky
Must protect my little pockets of happiness.Collection: Pockets
Life goes on with fragile normalcy.Collection: Elephants
After sixty-one years together, she simply clutched my hand and exhaled.Collection: Hands
All right. Let's give you something to tell your grandkids about. Or great-grandkids. Or great-great-grandkids." I snort with glee, delirious with excitement. Charlie winks and pours me another finger's worth of whiskey. Then, on second thought, he tips the bottle again. I reach out and grab its neck. "Better not," I say. "Don't want to get tipsy and break a hip.Collection: Giving
Hey! Shouts Camel. There ain't no woman in the world worth two bottles of whiskey!Collection: Two
Do you have any idea how much an elephant drinks?Collection: Elephants
Then I lie down on the horse blanket and drift into a dream about Marlena that will probably cost me my soul.Collection: Dream
Jacob: I've never seen so much manure. Wade: Baggage stock horses. They pack'em in 27 a car. Jacob: how do you stand the smell? Wade: what smell?Collection: Horse
We traveled for two weeks with a pickled hippo.Collection: Two
I used to think I preferred getting old to the alternative, but now I'm not sure. Sometimes the momotony of bingo and sing-alongs and ancient dusty people parked in the hallway in wheelchairs makes me long for death. Particularly when I rememver that I'm one of the ancient dusty people, filed away like some worthless tchotchke.Collection: Thinking
I stare at her for a long moment. I want to kiss her. I want to kiss her more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.Collection: Romance
I tend not to think about the reading public at all, or the business, when I’m writing.Collection: Reading
The person following is never in control, which she knows full well and which is exactly why she does it.Collection: Book