Lunatics are similar to designated hitters. Often an entire family is crazy, but since an entire family can't go into the hospital, one person is designated as crazy and goes inside.

Insanity comes in two basic varieties: slow and fast.

Translation: I need to know the particulars of craziness so I can assure myself that I’m not crazy.

In a strange way we were free. We’d reached the end of the line. We had nothing more to lose.

What does borderline personality mean, anyhow? It appears to be a way station between neurosis and psychosis: a fractured but not disassembled psyche. Though to quote my post-Melvin psychiatrist: “It’s what they call people whose lifestyles bother them.

My friends have hated Asa, first for monopolizing my mind, then for the endless discussions of him they were subjected to, finally, for making me unhappy.

They didn’t have time to wonder why I was a little more miserable than most.

Greece was a long lesson in my insignificance.

It’s a fairly accurate portrait of me at eighteen, minus a few quirks like reckless driving and eating binges. It’s accurate but it isn’t profound.

The debate was wearing me out. Once you’ve posed that question, it won’t go away. I think many people kill themselves simply to stop the debate about whether they will or they won’t. Anything I thought or did was immediately drawn into the debate. Made a stupid remark – why not kill myself? Missed the bus – better put an end to it all. Even the good got in there. I liked that movie – maybe I shouldn’t kill myself.