It's as though I've been sleepwalking and suddenly woken to find myself here Sara Gruen More Quotes by Sara Gruen More Quotes From Sara Gruen He stares at me, and then leans back in his chair. "He's ill, Jacob." I say nothing. "He's a paragon schnitzophonic." "He's what?!" "Paragon schnitzophonic," repeats Uncle Al. "You mean paranoid schizophrenic?" "Sure. Whatever. But the bottom line is he's mad as a hatter. Sara Gruen madunclesmean ... 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. Sara Gruen glasseshairchildren But it all zipped by. One minute Marlena and I were up to our eyeballs, and the next thing we knew the kids were borrowing the car and fleeing the coop for college. And now, here I am. In my nineties and alone. Sara Gruen collegehere-i-amkids Why the hell shouldn't I run away with the circus? Sara Gruen guilty-consciencecircusrunning They grew fat and happy--the horses, not the children, or Marlena for that matter. Sara Gruen horsematterchildren i'm afraid to breathe in case i break the spell Sara Gruen breathecasesbreak How hard can it be to find a girl and an elephant for Christ's sake? Sara Gruen elephantsgirlsake I just think I'm better equipped to make a study of human personality than trying to get into the mind of animals. Sara Gruen personalityanimalthinking Don't want to get tipsy and break a hip. Sara Gruen hipsbreakwant I think there is just a vein of humanity that really loves animals and really loves to read about them. Sara Gruen humanityanimalthinking I'm truly grateful for my microwave, which allows me to easily clarify butter, steam vegetables, and - when I am really lazy - feed my three kids in less than five minutes. Sara Gruen gratefulvegetableskids I strain to hear, but my old ears, for all their obscene hugeness, pick up nothing but snippets. Sara Gruen obscenestrainears 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. Sara Gruen unclesgriefdog So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me and my guilty conscience, why the hell shouldn't I run away with the circus? Sara Gruen what-ifthreerunning Juliet is one of those rare novels that has it all: lush prose, tightly intertwined parallel narratives, intrigue, and historical detail all set against a backdrop of looming danger. Anne Fortier casts a new light on one of history's greatest stories of passion. I was swept away. Sara Gruen passionhistoricallight I hate this bizarre policy of protective exclusion, because it effectively writes me off the page. Sara Gruen pageshatewriting I tend not to think about the reading public at all, or the business, when I'm writing. Sara Gruen readingwritingthinking I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other. Sara Gruen water-for-elephantsninetythree Even when I look straight into the milky blue eyes I can't find myself any more. When did I stop being me? Sara Gruen eyebluelooks You work hard on a book and throw it out there and then it's beyond your control. Sara Gruen hardhard-workbook
