Literature Quotes

1. "Before me the world had turned about-face had transformed into something obscenely beautiful; an exquisite sunset. The light a soft pink and magenta danced in pools of tide water, and lingered on the fringes of rippled sand." (Kira Salak, "The Longest Stretch of Shark-free Beach")

2. In Hells Angels a supposed nonfiction account of the biker gang’s strange and dangerous world, Hunter S. Thompson’s describes a typical gathering of biker clubs from around the state. In the heat of a late afternoon the Gypsy Jokers roar in from Oakland three dozen of the most notorious outlaw bikers to ever roar across the highways of California. Once the dust had settled and beers had been opened the Jokers stood by their bikes and watch with disgust at the smaller less notorious clubs rolled in; the Presidents from Bakersfield, the Road Rats from the San Diego the Lost Souls from Oakland. On the morning of the Monterey Labor Day bike run, a tradition for bikers since the 1930’s the Jokers woke up angry, and ready to fight. The night before; in a bar no one could remember entering or leaving one of their new members had been badly beaten by the East Side boys a rival gang from East Oakland. It was to be violence and mayhem before breakfast; just the way the Jokers like it.

Adapted from Hells Angels, Hunter S. Thompson

3. "For a few minutes the roof of the bus remains visible among the stunted trees a tiny white gleam in a wild green sea growing smaller and smaller and then it is gone."

(Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild)

4. The best advice I have ever heard about punctuation is a simple declaration from Sheridan Baker a well known prose stylist; ‘Use the semi-co...

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...d alerted his boss. Fearful of how his sponsors would react to such raw blues Sullivan insisted his guest not play his own tunes, instead he would play a cover of a traditional country tune ‘Sixteen Tons’ a song already made popular by white country singer Tennessee Ernie Ford. Legend has that the young blues player agreed to the change but when the cameras turned to him he unleashed a firestorm of southern blues and rock that bore his name ‘Bo Diddley.’ Sullivan was, of course outraged; he threatened to end the singer’s career. What Bo Diddley understood however that was the genie of rock & roll, once released could never be put back in the bottle. A few months later Sullivan had booked Little Richard another fiery young Black rocker, soon after that came Elvis and, eventually the Beatles.

8. "I always know the ending that is where I start."