Top 7 Quotes by Jonathan Messinger

How could you love something so destructive? I ask. Because this wolf doesn't care if your heart is whole or not, you say. It tastes just the same.

"How could you love something so destructive?" I ask. "Because this wolf doesn't care if your heart is whole or not," you say. "It tastes just the same."

Jonathan Messinger

Heart, Care, Taste

Jonathan Messinger (2007). “Hiding Out”, p.68, featherproof books

The impulse to tell the truth was not as great as the fear of being left off the page.

Jonathan Messinger

Fear, Pages, Telling The Truth

Jonathan Messinger (2007). “Hiding Out”, p.179, featherproof books

Reading the [The Verso Book of Dissent] is like encountering the best version of our angry selves.

Jonathan Messinger

Book, Reading, Self

No one writes a story like Lydia Davis. In the years since she began publishing her lyrical, extremely short fiction, she has quietly become one of the most impactful influences on American writers, even if they don't know it. That's largely because she makes economy seem so easy. You could read several of her stories into a friend's voicemail box before you were cut off (and you should). You could fit one of her stories in this column. Some you could write on your palm.

Jonathan Messinger

Writing, Cutting, Years

I don't think my moped could outrun a cheetah.

Jonathan Messinger

Running, Thinking, Mopeds

The quotes are often poignant or funny (one man before the firing squad requests a bulletproof vest) and often don't register as much more than interesting historical documents from centuries past. But read in aggregate, all that pain piles up. Essentially, Elder has amassed a collection of what people say when they know they are going to die, the final product of what could be seen as psychological torture.

Jonathan Messinger

Pain, Past, Men