“On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide— it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese— the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope.”— Jeffrey Eugenides, amazon.comTagged: first lines of books, Sleeping Pills, Suicide, Killing Yourself
“We lost them in the vastness of their dresses and found them again, squeezed the pulp of their bodies and inhaled the perfume of their exertion. A few of us grew brave enough to insert our legs between theirs and to press our agony against them.”— Jeffrey Eugenides, amazon.comTagged: Teenage Wildlife, The Agony of Your Beauty
“Lux's gyrations on the roof so long ago; and even now, if we were to be honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that it is always that pale wraith we make love to, always her feet snagged in the gutter, always her single blooming hand steadying itself against the chimney, no matter what our pr…”— Jeffrey Eugenides, amazon.comTagged: Intimate Moments, Memory, You Will Last Forever, The First Time Is The Only Time
“The doctor's report, in a series of titillating numbers, presents Lux in a stiff paper gown stepping onto the scale (99), opening her mouth for the thermometer (98.7), and urinating into a plastic cup (WBC 6–8 occ. clump; mucus heavy; leukocytes 2 +). The simple appraisal 'mild abrasions' reports th…”— Jeffrey Eugenides, amazon.comTagged: Bardo, Cervix, Erotic Numbers, Uterine Walls
“She met us at the bus station in the small town she now lives in, because the station was the only place that served coffee. Her hands were red-knuckled and her gums had receded. Her tragedy hadn't made her more approachable, and in fact lent her the unknowable quality of a person who had suffered m…”— Jeffrey Eugenides, amazon.comTagged: Inexpressible Pain, The Look Of Pain, Tragedy, Tragic Face
“He didn't notice a single face as he took a seat. He saw neither teacher nor students, and was aware only of the heavenly light in the room, an orange glow from the autumnal foliage outside. The room seemed full of a sweet viscous liquid, a honey nearly light as air, which he breathed in. Time slowe…”— Jeffrey Eugenides, amazon.comTagged: Marijuana, Om, Trip Fontaine, Blue Eyes, Eternity
“In the trash can was one Tampax, spotted, still fresh from the insides of one of the Lisbon girls. Sissen said that he wanted to bring it to us, that it wasn't gross but a beautiful thing, you had to see it, like a modern painting or something, and then he told us he had counted twelve boxes of Tamp…”— Jeffrey Eugenides, amazon.comTagged: Tampax, Teenage Wildlife
“And it was then Cecilia gave orally what was to be her only form of suicide note, and a useless one at that, because she was going to live: 'Obviously, Doctor,' she said, 'you've never been a thirteen-year-old girl.'”— Jeffrey Eugenides, Cecilia Lisbon, amazon.comTagged: Suicide, Suicide Notes, Teenage Wildlife