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Trader

by Charles de Lint · 1997

A novel of loss, identity, and, in the strangest of places, hope. Max Trader is a luthier, a maker of guitars. Johnny Devlin is chronically unemployed. Max is solitary, quiet, responsible. Johnny is a lady-killer, a… more

11 quotes ★ 4.10 (3,035) Fantasy

Quotes from the Book

Look inside yourself for the answers - you're the only one who knows what's best for you. Everybody else is only guessing.
85
Well, you know this world isn't perfect.' 'No, you're wrong. This world IS perfect, people just come along and mess it up sometimes.
25
Thing that people forget is, we all die, right? We all die and no matter what we do, the universe is going to go on, perfectly happy without us.
7
Everybody’s got to make a buck—the trick is, either find something you like to do, or do something to pay the rent that doesn’t take too much out of you. Capisce?
5
Nothing’s free in this world,” Zeffy told her, “except leftovers and friendship, and even friendship costs. The difference is, usually we don’t mind paying the coin it requires.
4
Live intensely," Joe tells me. "Live big. The cousins have a saying: 'Walk large as trees, with the blood quick in you and swift-running.' In other words, don't let there be holes in your life where somebody else can creep into your head...
3
I wonder if the world's getting worse, or if we're just paying more attention to the shadows.
3
Everything already talks,” Joe told her. “Plants, animals, even that old truck of mine. The trick is figuring out their language, learning to hear what they’re saying so that it makes sense.
3
There is no event so momentous that it hasn’t been seen before, no trouble so grand that won’t look small from another perspective.
3
I swear that all dogs are born knowing certain words. Walk. Eat. Good dog. The important stuff.
2
I figure all oracular devices are just a way for us to focus on what we already know, but can’t quite grab onto. It works the same as a ritual does in a church: You get enough people focused on something, things happen. The way I see it is, it doesn’t much matter what the device is. It’s just got to be interesting enough so that your attention doesn’t stray. Fellow reading the fortune, fellow having it read—same difference. They’ve both got to be paying attention. “What

About Charles de Lint

We have collected 103 quotes from 9 books by Charles de Lint on BookQuoters.

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About the book

A novel of loss, identity, and, in the strangest of places, hope.

Max Trader is a luthier, a maker of guitars. Johnny Devlin is chronically unemployed. Max is solitary, quiet, responsible. Johnny is a lady-killer, a drunk, a charming loser.

When they inexplicably wake up in each other's bodies, Johnny gleefully moves into Max's comfortable and stable existence, leaving Max to pick up the pieces of a life he had no part in breaking.

Penniless, friendless, homeless, Max begins a journey that will take him beyond the streets of the city to an otherworld of dreams and spirits, where he must confront both the unscrupulous Johnny Devlin and his own deepest fears.

Book details

First published
1997
Genre
Fantasy
Goodreads rating
4.10 (3k ratings)

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