I spin around on the swivel chair and look up at the ceiling; Oliver being Oliver being Oliver being Oliver. I am suddenly aware of the separation between my-actual-self and myself-as-seen-by-others. Who would win in an arm wrestle? Who is… — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share Image
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 and walk around like nothing's wrong. My name is Oliver Tate. — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share Image
“Our Welsh teacher thinks he is young. He tells us that the Welsh for skiving in town is ‘mitchio yn y dre’.” — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
I don't know if I've come of age, but I'm certainly older now. I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate… — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
“One more word that may be useful in the heat of passion: dong. Dong sounds like someone very important has just arrived.” — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
My mother tells me I do not chew my food enough; she says I am making it harder for my body to get the… — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
“I tell my parents I'm going out for pudding. They think this might be a nickname for heroin.Mum makes the international face for 'is… — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
“I authorize an air strike that reduces my street to rubble; I fold Swansea Bay like an enormous omelette and scoff it all” — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
I spin around on the swivel chair and look up at the ceiling; Oliver being Oliver being Oliver being Oliver. I am suddenly aware… — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
“I want the evening upon which we lose our collective virginities to be special. I'm no parthenologist but I suspect that Jordana's virginity is… — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
“Oliver, we’ve got something to tell you,” Dad says, dumping a cardboard box full of garden waste into a toad green mangler. Unlike the… — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
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 Copy Share
“Seducing Jordana was solid – she's got such high standards – but when I finally got the snogs in it was all worth it."… — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
I find that the only way to get through life is to picture myself in an entirely disconnected reality. I often imagine how people… — Joe Dunthorne Copy Share
