How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
They were both grinning like this was the funniest s*** in the world, and went on into tradition jokes about the sex lives of people who were mostly dead now. They'd talk about a time when some guy and girl got caught making out on the hayride, and then they'd suddenly be talking about how nice his funeral was, like fifty years later, or about how her family had to put her away because she couldn't take care of herself, and like that. (10.56)
Um, creepy. Or is it? Put yourself in Browning's and Rose's shoes—when you're in your 80s and most of your friends are dead, talking about the past as well as your dead friends' funerals probably becomes pretty normal.
Quote #2
I wanted to be around Dad all the time. I always begged to go to the council meetings with him, where I'd sit in the back and color or do the little bit of homework I had. I just liked hearing his voice; ever since kindergarten it had been a pleasant drone while he ran through all the stuff that needed to get done and asked who was doing it. (11.5)
Karl's dad wasn't perfect, but like every other boy his age, young Karl idolized him—even if it meant going to council meetings to deal with local politics. Now, that's love.
Quote #3
Mom and Dad started in yelling at each other about it, at the top of their lungs, the usual You-f***ed-it-up/No-you-f***ed-it-up thing they did whenever anything went wrong. It went on for awhile. I just sat at the table and thought about poor Dad not getting his cake, and how I had been looking forward to it, too, and it was all very sad. (11.20)
Karl shares a lot of memories about his past, and while there's some nice stuff about going to council meetings with his dad and getting ice cream afterward, most of it looks more like this—lots of alcohol, lots of throwing stuff. And, when your childhood looks like that, you're bound to have problems in high school.
Quote #4
Thinking about all that now, riding in Browning's hearse, I had about worked myself into hating the whole world. Old people in particular. Why couldn't things just be wrong, and let it go at that? Lots of unfair stuff happened all the time. Lots of things that weren't right happened. (12.1)
Riding in Browning's hearse gets Karl thinking about the time he wanted to be a Communist, and thinking about his dad's anger over the issue gets his mind on the subject of hating old people for being backward. Not only is he hating his own past but whatever past experiences led the older generation to develop the attitudes they have. Whoa. That's a mind-bender.
Quote #5
I guess if there was really a low spot in my life it wasn't so much when Dad died as when Mom threw that party. It was the start of booze and cats, and the point where I stopped being able to keep the house all the way nice. Also although by that time, my old Mom was mostly gone, replaced by Flying Saucer Lady, Beth with the Boots, or Neil's Old Lady, somehow that party was like the wake for the mother I'd grown up with. (14.1)
Losing a parent to cancer is pretty bad, but having your mom turn into a drunken crazy cat lady only makes it worse. Karl watches as the mom he grew up with dissolves into Beth—and gradually loses control of his life as a result.
Quote #6
I just stood there, so confused I wanted to slap myself. My pathetic little savings account had been home to my birthday money; my first paycheck from my paper route […] I felt like I remembered every deposit there had ever been, and the much less frequent withdrawals. It was childish of me to feel that it wouldn't be the same when she put the money back, like a little kid worrying about having the exact same dollar bill Grandpa gave him. (14.21-22)
In spite of the fact that his childhood really seems to have stunk like a skunk, Karl still has some memories he's attached to, and being a kid who was good with money seems to be one of them. Probably because his bank account was one area of his life he always had control over—and then his mom blazed in and messed that up, too.
Quote #7
For some reason tonight while I was cleaning out McDonald's, I kept thinking about that first party, which always got me what Mom called "all full of angry energy," so I burned that energy on work and got done even faster than usual. (14.42)
This is another one of those Karl moments we're sure you can relate to. Ever work yourself into being all upset about something that happened in the past and then have to go do something to get rid of all that energy, like work out or listen to metal? That's what's going on here. Karl may have a few happy memories from his past, but most of it is just pent-up rage.
Quote #8
She opened the waffle iron and dumped out two perfect waffles. "How do you know when they're ready?" I asked.
She grinned. "Ancient secret, Tiger Sweetie. You get married very young. You get a waffle iron as a wedding present and you have a husband that you think the sun rises on, and very shortly after a little boy that you think it rises and sets on, and they both love waffles. Then you make about ten thousand burned waffles—and about ten thousand half raw ones—while your husband gamely eats them, and your little boy doesn't care." (19.32-33)
Quote #9
"While he was dying, I was around Dad all the time. He showed me how to fix everything around the house […] all that stuff he'd been good at once, and was good at again now that he wasn't drinking. We'd do stuff all day and he'd add it to that list that—the list that used to be on my wall, and then we'd sit and watch old stupid movies together. He used to do that when he was drunk with Mom, but now he did it with me. He was dying, but life was better than it ever had been. I loved that." (26.104-105)
Dang. This is probably the saddest passage in a book that's packed with a whole lot of sad—the happiest time of Karl's life was when his dad was dying. Really, it seems like that was the closest he came to living anything that resembled a normal life … and losing a parent is about as abnormal as it gets.
Quote #10
"Cheryl is always saying to remember Dad liked my company and did spend all that time with me. Squid tells me how lucky I was to have a great dad for that long. One night for like four hours Darla kept telling me that it didn't matter whether he got sober and then realized he loved me, or he realized he loved me and then got sober, she said either way my dad loved me and I ought to hang on to that with both hands." (26.111)
As memorable as his dad's last days were, Karl still struggles with his dad's actual motivations for kicking alcohol—specifically, whether he did it for himself or because he loved Karl and wanted to do it for him. As he processes the past with the Madmen and finally Gratz, he comes to realize that it doesn't really matter; the point is that he had a real dad for longer than most of his friends did.