How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"You've been drinking alcohol and driving my little boy around." (2.15)
Pros: Sutter stood Cassidy up to take this little boy home. Cons: he was drinking and driving. Gee, tough one. Not to mention some of his other options—like calling the police or getting someone else to drive the boy home.
Quote #2
Everything I do when I'm drinking is about creativity, broadening my horizons. It's actually educational. When I'm drinking, it's like I see another dimension to the world. (4.7)
Uh-huh. We're pretty sure this is about the oldest excuse in the book. If Sutter really believes this—well, he's just like the rest of the drunks.
Quote #3
The truth is I am God's own drunk. (4.8)
Sutter didn't come up with this one—it's a quote from a Jimmy Buffett. We suspect that living your life according to Jimmy Buffett songs doesn't even work for Jimmy Buffett.
Quote #4
That's the number one problem with these anti-drug-and-alcohol programs they shoehorn you into starting in grade school. No one will admit any of that stuff is fun, so there goes all their credibility flying right out the window. (4.2)
We're all about the straight-and-narrow path ourselves, but Sutter might actually have a legitimate point. Would anti-drug campaigns work better if they admitted that drugs can feel good?
Quote #5
Okay, yes, maybe I do drink a little bit more than a little bit too much, but don't go getting the idea that I'm an alcoholic. It's not some big addiction. It's just a hobby. (4.1)
Right. Can't get any more classic alcoholic than that excuse. Here's a hint: try the first step.
Quote #6
I've got nothing against the weed – I just don't happen to see it as a good social lubricant. (6.5)
Okay, so apparently Sutter sees alcohol as a social lubricant, as a way to make friends and easy group interactions. How ironic that it ends up driving away all his friends.
Quote #7
"At first, he just started out with Loritab. His neck used to kill him after he was in a car wreck. Now, he has this sock full of OxyContin in his dresser – like me and Mom don't know about it. It's not even about pain anymore." (7.34)
Tara is telling Sutter about her stepdad. This is one thing Sutter doesn't do – he doesn't hide his alcohol use. He's actually proud of it.
This one is actually kind of a bummer. Painkiller abuse is no joke, and it's not uncommon for legitimate prescriptions to lead to addiction.
Quote #8
Hangovers are tricky. They're kind of like practical jokers. You never quite know how they're going to hit you. I used to enjoy them. They didn't give me a headache or a sick stomach or anything like that. Instead, I'd feel cleansed. Redeemed. (33.1)
Ugh, Sutter, this is just weird. It's also a bad sign that one major deterrent against abusing alcohol—hangovers—turns into a positive.
Quote #9
Lately, though, my hangovers have started to take on a mean streak. It's the opposite of that fine redemption feeling – a vague, weird guilt instead. Maybe it's just a chemical thing, the old brain misfiring, the wiring short-circuiting. Or maybe it comes from not exactly being able to remember everything you did the night before. (33.2)
Hm. Maybe. Or maybe it's because hangovers get worse as you get older. Or maybe it's because drinking has stopped being a choice for Sutter and turned into a real, mean, ugly addiction.
Quote #10
Used to, it was pretty much all peaks, but I guess you have to expect a valley every now and then when you're in it for the long haul. (52.1)
When we think of being in something for the long haul, we think of things like graduate school, marriage, mortgages, and child rearing. But not Sutter. He's going to stick with his flask until the bitter end.