“Standing there small among the boxes of Kandy Kakes that rose like brownish cartoon cliffs around him, he resembled the videos I'd seen of sea lions floating angelically among the kelp, black bodie...”

“Maybe that was the secret to happiness, I thought, being free of the responsibility of yourself.”

“I did have a friend,' I said.'And your friend trespassed upon you,' the Wally replied.”

“There was no better way to live, or worse. It was all terrible, and you had to do it constantly,”

“He was so far away now, or maybe he just looked distant because we were imaging different things for our future.”

“Tell me, is there someone in your life who's been sharing your life too closely? A friend or a loved one? Is there someone who's been taking up your time and not giving any of it back?”

“I am a person before I am anything else. I never say I am a writer. I never say I am an artist...I am a person who does those things.”

“The point, I decided, wasn't to have the autobiography or even the memories. The point was who I became when I wrote.”

“The willingness to reach inside every part of yourself opens the door to total understanding. You place your entire identity on the line, not just an isolated part. This may sound daunting, but act...”

“Nobody works better under pressure. They just work faster.”

“Youth, with all its accompanying risks, humiliations, and uncertainties, the pressure to do it all before its too late.”

“We feel a lot of pressure about looking silly or appearing weak, whatever that means, or being a failure. You have to keep in your head: what's the worst that can happen?”