Today we heard the news that best-selling author, poet, and speaker Katherine Dunn died on Wednesday at her Portland home from complications from lung cancer. The American author is best known for Geek Love, a cult classic and National Book Award finalist published in 1989.
Geek Love will live on forever, and that’s what authors do, immortalise themselves within the pages of their books. Here are my five favourite Geek Love quotes to honour Katherine Dunn today.
“I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy. Each of these innocents on the street is engulfed by a terror of their own ordinariness. They would do anything to be unique.”
“The truth is always an insult or a joke, lies are generally tastier. We love them. The nature of lies is to please. Truth has no concern for anyone’s comfort.”
“They thought to use and shame me but I win out by nature, because a true freak cannot be made. A true freak must be born.”
“It is, I suppose, the common grief of children at having to protect their parents from reality. It is bitter for the young to see what awful innocence adults grow into, that terrible vulnerability that must be sheltered from the rodent mire of childhood.”
“We survive until, by sheer stamina, we escape into the dim innocence of our own adulthood and its forgetfulness.”
We hope you enjoyed those. Our thoughts of course are with Katherine Dunn’s family, friends and fans today.
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