I felt the crumpled paper that had taken the place of my lungs expand as if released from a fist. Aimee Bender More Quotes by Aimee Bender More Quotes From Aimee Bender But what I kept wondering about is this: that first second when she felt her skirt burning, what did she think? Before she knew it was candles, did she think she'd done it herself? With the amazing turns of her hips, and the warmth of the music inside her, did she believe, for even one glorious second, that her passion had arrived? Aimee Bender passionbelievethinking Sometimes, she said, mostly to herself, I feel I do not know my children... It was a fleeting statement, one I didn't think she'd hold on to; after all, she had birthed us alone, diapered and fed us, helped us with homework, kissed and hugged us, poured her love into us. That she might not actually know us seemed the humblest thing a mother could admit. Aimee Bender motherchildrenthinking I didn’t mind the quiet stretches. It was like we were trying out the idea of being side by side. Aimee Bender mindtryingideas I peeled the skin off a grape in slippery little triangles, and I understood then that I would be undressing every item of food I could because my clothes would be staying on. Aimee Bender datingclothesskins Mom loved my brother more. Not that she didn't love me - I felt the wash of her love every day, pouring over me, but it was a different kind, siphoned from a different, and tamer, body of water. I was her darling daughter; Joseph was her it. Aimee Bender daughtermombrother It seemed to happen in springs, the revealing of things. Aimee Bender revealinghappensspring We hit the sidewalk, and dropped hands. How I wished, right then, that the whole world was a street. Aimee Bender streetshandsworld I give boring people something to discuss over corn. Aimee Bender corngivingpeople That at the same time of this very intimate act of concentrating so carefully on the details of our mother's palm and fingertips, he was also removing all traces of any tiny leftover parts, and suddenly a ritual which I'd always found incestuous and gross seemed to me more like a desperate act on Joseph's part to get out, to leave, to extract every little last remnant and bring it into open air. Aimee Bender detailsmotherair I watched as she added a question mark at the end. Arc, line, space, dot. Aimee Bender dotslinesspace I was right at the edge of their circle, like the tail of a Q... Aimee Bender edgescirclestails Glen Hirshberg's stories are haunting, absolutely, but not only because of the content -- the stories themselves haunt, they stick around, they linger, inhabiting a little corner of the reader's brain and resurfacing to evoke mystery or sadness or longing. It's a pleasure to dive into Hirshberg's storytelling skills in American Morons. Aimee Bender sadnessskillsbrain But I loved George in part because he believed me; because if I stood in a cold, plain room and yelled FIRE, he would walk over and ask me why. Aimee Bender coldfirerooms I'm obsessed with adolescence. I love to write about people in their 20s. It's such a fraught and exciting and kind of horrible time. Aimee Bender kindwritingpeople Some creative writing programs seem evil, but my experience at Irvine was totally the opposite, where I feel like they were really good at focusing in on each writers voice and setting. When I felt like I was obligated to write a story that was more typical, no one really liked it. Aimee Bender feelgoodexperienceevil For me as a person, friendships are incredibly important to me, but in writing, they can distract me. Aimee Bender personmeimportantwriting I liked Hans Christian Andersen because the tales were so dark and tragic. Aimee Bender werebecausechristiandark As a kid, I liked making up stories, and I wrote a story about a kangaroo and a bat with Christy Chang, and she went on to become a surgeon. Aimee Bender surgeonshestorykid I don't eschew autobiographical writing, but I'm not interested in mine to be so straightforward. The things that tend to move me the most are often those that I have to figure out its meaning for myself. The human being's ability to make a metaphor to describe a human experience is just really cool. Aimee Bender myselfcoolmeexperience I really like feeling connected to people and feeling like I have a good, solid sense of empathy. Aimee Bender feelinggoodempathypeople
