For my last birthday, Dad bought me a pocket-sized Collins English Dictionary. It would only fit in a pocket that had been specially designed.

- Joe Dunthorne

After that, we had a short conversation about how your body can sometimes seem totally separate. She said her body can feel like a distant bureaucrac…

- Joe Dunthorne

My mother tells me I do not chew my food enough; she says I am making it harder for my body to get the essential nutrients it needs. If she were here…

- Joe Dunthorne

I would never say snog. I would say osculate." She looks at me as if to say: why do you exist?

- Joe Dunthorne

Most people think of themselves as individuals, that there's no one on the planet like them. This thought motivates them to get out of bed, eat food …

- Joe Dunthorne

There will be birds and if they write your name in the sky then you can get on the buses and if they don't you have to die on the floor.

- Joe Dunthorne

I love you more than words. And I am a big fan of words.

- Joe Dunthorne

I find that the only way to get through life is to picture myself in an entirely disconnected reality.

- Joe Dunthorne

I took a photo of us, mid-embrace. When I am old and alone I will remember that I once held something truly beautiful.

- Joe Dunthorne