Quotes from William Hjortsberg

Normal? Hateful word, normal. No meaning whatsoever.

I like your eyes when you get mad," I said. "They glow like embers.

It's usually some badass makes a young girl's heart beat faster.

The tomb lies at the end of every path. Only the soul is immortal. Guard this treasure well. Your decaying husk is but a temporary vessel on an endless voyage.

No matter how cleverly you sneak up on a mirror your reflection always looks you straight in the eye.

All along the avenue, cotton candy stands, fun houses, and games of chance were tightly shuttered, like clowns without makeup.

Demerol made it all seem okay.

revelation hit me like an ice-water enema.

Her wavy, shoulder-length hair was the colour of polished mahogany.

RECEPTIONIST LOOKED RIGHT through me as I crossed the carpeted lobby between glass-cased tanker models and clipper ship prints. I winked at her, and she spun away on her swivel chair. The frosted doors to the inner sanctum had bronze fouled anchors mounted in place of handles, and I pushed through humming a sea chanty under my breath. "Yo ho, blow the man down …" Beyond

Marriage and Money

turned the knob and looked into a large, bare room, made homelike by several sagging secondhand couches and gay circus posters brightening the mildewed walls. The fat lady filled a couch like it was an armchair. A diminutive woman with a black curling beard spread across her demure pink bodice sat engrossed in a half-assembled jigsaw puzzle. Under a dusty fringed lampshade, four curious misshapen humans engaged in the familiar ritual of draw poker.

I got them voodoo blues, Them evil hoo-doo blues. Petro Loa won't leave me alone; Every night I hear the zombies moan. Lord, I got them mean ol' voodoo blues. Zu-Zu was a mambo, she loved a hungan man; Messin' with Erzuli wasn't part of her plan. The spell of the tom-tom turned her into a slave, And now Baron Samedi's dancin' on her grave. Yeah, she's got them voodoo blues, Them bad ol' hoo-doo blues … When

Bolinas, California

few odd souls wandered about Surf Avenue looking for something to do. Sheets of newspaper blew like tumbleweed down broad, empty streets. Overhead, a pair of sea gulls hovered, scanning the ground for discarded scraps. All along the avenue, cotton candy stands, fun houses, and games of chance were tightly shuttered, like clowns without makeup. Nathan

THERE WAS NO RUSH going down the fire stairs. I'd had enough exercise for one day. When I hit the lobby I didn't make for the street, but cut through the narrow passage leading to the Carnegie Tavern. I always buy myself a drink after finding

shook a cigarette from my pack and offered one to Danny who wagged his head negatively. "I didn't think you could finger her for me, Danny," I said, lighting up. "But you've been around a while now. Tell me who the old-timers are. Put me wise to someone who knows the score." Danny

The bar was jammed with the Happy Hour crowd. I elbowed through the press and ordered a double Manhattan on the rocks. When it came, I took a long swallow and struggled back with