Dept. of Speculation
Quotes from the Book
There are two ways to get rid of an anxiety monster,my friend-you either have a bath or a nap.
There is only one amount of money - just not enough.
The Sloth would sit on his couch, paralyzed by all the things he wasn't taking care of. Then one day, a Wednesday, he just said, 'Fuck it!' He threw his hands up into the air and said, 'Fuck it!' This was the day that the sloth discovered his superpower, an amazing ability to say 'Fuck it' and really, truly mean it.
I don't remember a single monster before I met you.' he'd told Amphibian. 'Now they seem to be all over the place.' 'You mean there wasn't anything you were afraid of?' the Amphibian had asked him. 'lots.' 'What did they look like?' It was a funny question. 'They didn't look like anything. They were ideas,' Tom told him. 'Like not being able to pay rent, or being lonely.' 'That's the most terrifying thing I've ever heard.' the Amphibian replied.
Okay, there's this thing you can do, a thing you can do like no other person on this planet. That makes you special, but being special ready doesn't mean anything. You still have to get dressed in the morning. Your shoelaces still break. Your lover will still leave you if you don't treat her right.
He knocks on doors and stands there. You’d be surprised how few doors get answered
THE PROJECTIONIST The projectionist can make you believe whatever she believes. If she believes interest rates are going to fall, and you have a short conversation with the Projectionist, you will too. If she believes that, no, in fact, you didn't signal when you turned left, causing the Projectionist to ram her car into the back of yours, so will you. Her downfall began when she fell in love with the Inverse. She absolutely, 100% fell in love with the Inverse. She projected all this emotion onto him but the Inverse, being the Inverse, simply reflected the opposite of everything she was sending. Strangely, neither the Inverse nor the Projectionist can let go of the relationship.
We’re here,’ the Clock says. The Perfectionist opens her eyes. She sees nothing. It’s white. All white. There’s no up. There’s no down. No horizon. Nothing. It’s just white. ‘Clock, what is this?’ asks the Perfectionist. Her voice is shaky. ‘This is the future.’ ‘This is the future?’ the Perfectionist asks. Her mouth is dry. She forces herself to swallow. ‘Why is the future like this?’ ‘Because it hasn’t happened yet,’ says the Clock
MISTRESS CLEANASYOUGO The most powerful superhero of all, the one everyone wishes they were, is Mistress Cleanasyougo. At the end of every day she folds her clothes. She never leaves scissors on the table, pens with no ink are thrown in the trash, wet towels are always hung up, dishes are washed directly after dinner and nothing is left unsaid.
The Sloth hated himself. He considered himself lazy. He had a dead-end job and no plans to get a better one. His relationship was on-again-off-again, and he never got to the gym even though he kept paying the membership dues. There was mould in his refrigerator and he watched reruns on TV. Sometimes he wore the same pair of socks twice in the same week. The Sloth would sit on his couch, paralyzed by all the things he wasn’t taking care of. Then one day, a Wednesday, he just said, ‘Fuck it!’ He threw his hands up into the air and said, ‘Fuck it!’ This was the day that the Sloth discovered his superpower, an amazing ability to say ‘Fuck it’ and really, truly mean it.
Okay, there's this thing you can do, a thing you can do like no other person on this planet. That makes you special, but being special ready doesn't mean anything. You still have to get dressed in the morning. Your shoelaces still break. Your lover will still leave you if you don't treat her right
Tom remembered standing there beside her, in font of that field covered in snow, and falling in love.
I've got the love that's yours as long as you do what you're told, the love that worries it's not good enough, the love that worries that it'll be found out, the love that fears being judged and found lacking, the love that's almost - but not quite - strong enough, the love that makes you feel they're better than you
The Perfectionist pushed Tom onto her bed. She took off his shirt. She took off his shoes and his socks. She took off his pants. She took off his boxers. With most guys the Perfectionist would stop there. She didn’t. She was still feeling reckless. She took off his skin. She took off his nervous system. She lifted up his rib cage. His heart beat in her hand. And there, underneath it, she found a rusted tin box. She opened it. Inside she found his hopes, his dreams and his fears. She stared at them. She was surprised to find them there and surprised at how beautiful they were. At that exact moment, the Perfectionist fell in love with Tom.
Okay, there's this thing you can do, a thing you can do like no other person on this planet. That makes you special, but being special really doesn't mean anything. You still have to get dressed in the morning. Your shoelaces still break. Your lover will still leave you if you don't treat her right
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About Andrew Kaufman
Book details
- Author
- Andrew Kaufman
- Genre
- Fiction
- Goodreads rating
- 3.77 (15k ratings) →
Keep reading
Dept. of Speculation
One
No One Belongs Here More Than You
Just for the Summer
The Only Alien on the Planet
One Day
Attachments
Say What You Will
Providence
Helium
Bone Gap
Part of Your World
A Wind in the Door
A Kiss in Time
A Single Man
You
Lost and Found Sisters
Beautiful Creatures
Lola and the Boy Next Door
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two
The Probability of Miracles
Unwind
Picture Perfect
Emergency Contact
Lady Midnight
An Abundance of Katherines
Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories
Middlegame
The Sweetest Thing
Invisibility
The Enchantress Returns
Divided in Death
First Comes Love
Less Is Lost
Mr. Fox
The Quiet Tenant
Unmade
When It Happens
Everything Is Illuminated
At the Edge of the Universe
Only for You
The Night We Met
Something Like Winter
Obsidian Butterfly
P.S. I Love You
The Power of Six
Vision in White
The Love of My Afterlife
Finding It
Every Heart a Doorway
Incubus Dreams
Off the Page
Rosemary and Rue
Practical Magic
Sweet Thursday
The Color Master: Stories
Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory
Going Vintage
Just One Day
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

