The Year In Great Sentences
Kristin Iversen, Managing Editor, Brooklyn Magazine
(Not a) Sentence: “I’d been listening to men talk since I arrived in New York City. That’s what men like to do. Talk. Profess like experts. When one finally came along who didn’t say much, I listened.”
Where It’s From: The Flamethrowers, Rachel Kushner
Why it’s great: Ha. Well. This isn’t one sentence. But it’s one sentiment, and it’s part of what was my favorite book of 2014 (even though it came out in 2013, it took me a little while to get to it). Kushner captures so many things beautifully in this novel, from the sun-bleached salt flats of Utah to the cramped apartments of Italian would-be revolutionaries, but the parts of the novel that most reliably plucked chords of familiarity in me were those which dealt with what it’s like to be a woman in a hyper-masculine New York art world. Kushner’s writing was so incisive, so spot-on, and so funny. Perfection.
Runner-Up Sentence: “They say I’m too young to love you; They say I’m too dumb to see; They judge me like a picture book, By the colors, like they forgot to read.”
Where It’s From: “Brooklyn Baby” by Lana del Rey
Why It’s Great: Seriously? I’m not explaining that. You either get it or… well. Sorry.