How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
You looked strong, Ed. I guess you always looked strong, your shoulders and your jaw, your arms leading you through the room, your neck where I know now you like to be kissed. (4.43)
Here we have Min's first encounter with Ed. (At least, the first encounter where she really notices him.) Often, in the book, when she Min describes him, she focuses on his physique.
Quote #2
"I'm with Jordan," Lauren said, taking half the stack. "I know better than to interfere with the sexual tension festival you and Min have going on this morning."
"Every morning," Jordan said. (11.30-11.31)
The sexual tension fest Lauren's referring to is with Al (not Ed). This is one of the first clues we have that Al's feelings for Min aren't just platonic—and that maybe, deep down inside, hers for him aren't so friendly either.
Quote #3
This is another thing I think of, turning it over, try to put together two pictures of it, but this time it's about me, it's myself I'm trying to figure. Because one sounds so disgusting, not even able to tell Al about it, win the big game, take the virgin to her first bonfire, feed her a beer or two, and then the two of us in someone's car with your hand between my legs.… Honestly it felt different then, different from that bad picture. (15.117)
Min's plagued by anxiety about sex and being perceived as, shall we say, less than ladylike. She craves physical intimacy, but she feels conflicted about it.
Quote #4
"I'm a virgin."
You almost spat out orange juice. "OK."
"I just thought I'd tell you."
"OK."
"Because I didn't before."
"Listen, it's OK." You coughed a little. "Some of my best friends are virgins." (19.5-19.10)
Look at that—Ed made a joke. It doesn't really put Min at ease, but he gets points for trying.
Quote #5
They tell you, in the pamphlets they throw at us, they say talk to your parents or a clergyman or a trusted teacher or friend. But there is nobody acceptable on that list, parents part of the problem, a teacher who will say There are some conversations I'm not really allowed to have with you, and most friends squealing to their other friends just like a clergyman will tattle to God. (22.65)
Min wants to talk to someone about sex. In theory, she should have lots of options, but in practice, there's really just one. And his name is Al.
Quote #6
I've seen Now Calls the Wilderness on the big screen, Ed, I've seen a fully restored print of The Acrobats. I have never seen anything so very beautiful as you in your underwear like a little boy, then naked, hooting with laughter, the drink a streak on your chest, excited, looking at me in the living room. (22.253)
Min finds Ed physically attractive, in case you didn't get that from the ten thousand other passages like this one.
Quote #7
"I don't want to lose my virginity in your bed," I said.
You sighed at the napkin. "Do you mean that, like, not in my bed or not with me?"
"Just the actual bed," I said. "Or your car or a park. Somewhere, you'll laugh, somewhere extraordinary." (25.98-25.100)
Min craves adventure and intrigue, and often she finds it. What she doesn't realize is those qualities are innately in her—not her external surroundings.
Quote #8
My unguarded vengeance, unbuttoning my costume for the first time, showing the lining of my dad's forgotten coat and also what I was wearing beneath it. Which had been for you, Ed, my best bra." (29.196)
After a huge fight with Ed, Min finds relief in a wild dance with her ex-boyfriend, Joe. Does she want to make Ed jealous? Or is it not about him?
Quote #9
Criminy, I remember you saying. I was smiling because I didn't have to be guided like I thought I'd be, not as much. I could do some things. Some parts I was very good at. (34.1)
For all her anxiety about losing her virginity, Min's first time goes better than she had expected. We're glad for her, too, since Ed's ultimately such a bust.
Quote #10
I make out like an imbecile, I fool around foolishly, I lost my virginity and couldn't even do that right, agreeing to it and getting sad and annoying afterward. (40.93)
Up until now, Min never states explicitly that she felt sad after losing her virginity. Think back, though: Were there any subtle signs of these feelings? What were they?