How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
But I'm past my prime." She laughed. "Seriously. There are studies about this s***. Prodigies tend to hit their peak at, like twelve or thirteen. What have I done? I won a fugging game show a year ago? That's my indelible mark on human history?" (5.102)
You're seventeen and your whole life is ahead of you… most high school grads are thinking about college or jobs, but not Colin. He's already regretting his whole existence because he hasn't become a genius.
Quote #5
"Okay. A smartypants?" Colin laughed. It suited him. No longer a prodigy, not yet a genius—but still a smartypants. "I don't play games," Colin said. "I don't really play much." (7.68)
We love how Lindsey mocks Colin. So what if you're a child prodigy? You can still play games and have fun. Colin's never thought about anything but getting more knowledge, and doesn't even really know how to have fun. Call us stupid, but knowing how to have fun seems like a pretty crucial thing to know to Shmoop.
Quote #6
"Okay," she said. "Here's the thing about storytelling: you need a beginning, and a middle, and an end. Your stories have no plots. They're like, here's something I was thinking and then the next thing I was thinking and then et cetera. You can't get away with rambling. You're Colin Singleton, Beginning Storyteller, so you've got to stick to a straight plot." And you need a good, strong moral. Or a theme or whatever. And the other thing is romance and adventure. You've got to put some of those in." (9.113)
It's funny that Colin (known child prodigy trying to make his way as a genius) needs a lesson from Lindsey on something as simple as telling a story. No one can master everything, but Colin has spent so much time with his head in books that he doesn't know how to function in everyday life.