How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Next morning I woke up on the couch. Everyone was gone except Neil, who was in the bedroom with my mother. I felt like I had been poisoned: head aching, sick to my stomach, sore in every muscle. I puked in the toilet, which helped, except that I realized I might have been the most accurate, but I sure hadn't been first. (14.29)
Karl's mom not only hardcore broke the law by giving her kid alcohol, but his raging hangover is a result of her poor judgment. Welcome to the world of Brave New Beth, where nobody is safe.
Quote #5
St. Iggy's was pretty much the place for AA meetings, that or private homes, because the Catholics didn't have anything against smoking or coffee, and AA meetings were generally held in a blue cloud with everyone drinking a gallon of coffee. Dick always said it just showed that we were all addicts, and all we'd done was change what we were addicted to. (20.5)
This is a pretty interesting observation. Do you agree that we just switch out addictions, trading one vice for another? Either way, you have to feel bad for these guys—with no smartphones or Facebook or reruns of Lost, their addiction options are pretty limited.
Quote #6
He got up and did the "I'm Dick and I'm an alcoholic" business you start off with, and then laid it out. Fifteen years ago, over in Joffrey, Indiana, he'd drunk himself out of a good job and a family, and now he had a couple of kids who were almost grown and hated him and would never speak to him, and he cooked at Philbin's, and he wished he had a do-over on life. (20.10)
In a way, being around all of the AA guys has to fuel Karl's ambitions to not just kick the booze but get out of Lightsburg altogether. Dick, Gratz, Philbin, Browning, and all of these other old dudes he hangs with all have one thing in common—they have vices and they never left town.