Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Page Turner

"I pick up lots of good lines at prayer meetings. I asked Amy, I whispered to her, how she'd like to have a little manna on her honey. And she turned red, and kicked me on the ankle. I whispered to her again, asked her if I could Mose-y into her Burning Bush. I told her I was going to take her to my bosom and cleave unto her, and anoint her with precious oils."

-- Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me, 1952

The above excerpt is pretty much the only light-hearted moment in the entire book, which may be the most disturbing work of fiction I have ever read, and one of only a handful of books that I've read from start to finish in one sitting.

Highly recommended.

I never liked any of Stanley Kubrick's movies, but I have to agree with him on this one: "Probably the most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally warped mind I have ever encountered."