Quotes by Joe Dunthorne

The next thing Jordana says makes me realize that its too late to save her. Ive noticed that when you light a match, the flame is the same shape as a falling tear. Shes been sensitized, turned gooey in the middle. I saw it happening and I didnt do anything to stop it. From now on, shell be writing diaries and sometimes including little poems and shell buy gifts for her favourite teachers and shell admire the scenery and shell watch the news and shell buy soup for homeless people and shell never burn my leg hair again.

The ocean is six miles deep.

Jordana is in the umpires highchair.I walk under the rugby posts and on to the tennis courts, stopping a few metres in front of her, in the service box.Her legs are crossed.I wait for her to speak.I have two special skills, she says.She pulls a sheaf of papers from under her bum. I recognize the font and the text boxes. Its my pamphlet.Blackmail, she says.She holds up her Zippo in the other hand. I can tell that she has been practising this.And pyromania.I am impressed that Jordana knows this word.Right, I say.Im going to blackmail you, Ol.I feel powerless. She is in a throne.Okay, I say.

“Oh diary, I love her, I love her, I love her so much. Jordana is the most amazing person I have ever met. I could eat her. I could drink her blood. Shes the only person I would allow to be shrunk to microscopic size and explore me in a tiny submersible machine. She is wonderful and beautiful and sensitive and funny and sexy. Shes too good for me, shes too good for anyone! All I could do was let her know. I said: I love you more than words. And I am a big fan of words.”