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“At Columbus Circle, a juggler wearing a trench cloak and top hat, who is usually at this location afternoons and who calls himself Stretch Man, performs in front of a small, uninterested crowd; though I smell prey, and he seems worthy of my wrath, I move on in search of a less dorky target. Though if he'd been a mime, odds are he'd already be dead.”

IfsMenSeemsMovingFrontsCrowdsWorthySmellCirclesHatsTargetAfternoonOddsLocationWrathPreyCloaksColumbusTrenchesMimeUninterestedJugglersDorkyTop Hats
Author:Bret Easton Ellis
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“A curtain of stars, miles of them, are scattered, glowing, across the sky and their multitude humbles me, which I have a hard time tolerating. She shrugs and nods after I say something about forms of anxiety. It's as if her mind is having a hard time communicating with her mouth, as if she is searching for a rational analysis of who I am, which is, of course, an impossibility: there... is... no... key.”

IfsMindHardFormCoursesStarsSkyKeysAnxietyMouthsCommunicateMilesWho I AmRationalAnalysisHard TimesMultitudesCurtainsImpossibilityGlowingHaving A Hard Time
Book:American Psycho: Picador Classic
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“I stare into a thin, web-like crack above the urinal's handle and think to myself that if I were to disappear into that crack, say somehow miniaturize and slip into it, the odds are good that no one would notice I was gone. No... one... would... care. In fact some, if they noticed my absence, might feel an odd, indefinable sense of relief. This is true: the world is better off with some people gone. Our lives are not all interconnected. That theory is crock. Some people truly do not need to be here.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWorldNeedsFeelsFactsMightCareGoneOur LivesTheoryDisappearAbsenceHandleOddStaringReliefCracksSlipsOddsBetter OffInterconnectedIndefinable
Author:Bret Easton Ellis
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“The seals stupidly dive off rocks into swirling black water, barking mindlessly. The zookeepers feed them dead fish. A crowd gathers around the tank, mostly adults, a few accompanied by children. On the seals' tank a plaque warns: COINS CAN KILL——IF SWALLOWED, COINS CAN LODGE IN AN ANIMAL'S STOMACH AND CAUSE ULCERS, INFECTIONS AND DEATH. DO NOT THROW COINS IN THE POOL. So what do I do? Toss a handful of change into the tank when none of the zookeepers are watching. It's not the seals I hate——it's the audience's enjoyment of them that bothers me.”

IfsChildrenHateCausesBlackWaterAnimalAudienceRocksAdultsI HateFishesCrowdsBotherEnjoymentStomachPoolCoinsHandfulTanksSealsTossInfectionLodgesUlcersZookeepers
Book:American Psycho: Picador Classic
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“Where there was nature and earth, life and water, I saw a desert landscape that was unending, resembling some sort of crater, so devoid of reason and light and spirit that the mind could not grasp it on any sort of conscious level and if you came close the mind would reel backward, unable to take it in. It was a vision so clear and real and vital to me that in its purity it was almost abstract. This was what I could understand, this was how I lived my life, what I constructed my movement around, how I dealt with the tangible.”

IfsMindRealReasonLightEarthSpiritWaterLevelsVisionClearSawsMovementConsciousDesertLandscapeAbstractPurityTangibleUnendingCratersEarth Life
Author:Bret Easton Ellis
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“Are you as much of a criminal if you don't act when there's a crime taking place in front of you as you are one of the participants? That was something that I was thinking about a lot because there are many moments in 'Less Than Zero' where horrific things happen and Clay could do something about them, but his passivity stops him.”

IfsThinkingMomentsHappensFrontsCrimeCriminalsThings HappenZeroClayParticipantsHorrificPassivityPassivity IsLess Than Zero
Author:Bret Easton Ellis
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