“Two homeless men were asleep on picnic tables. I had become very good at not looking at unpleasant things. I could skip my eyes over any pool of vomit on the train platform, any broken junkie lurching toward the concrete,… — Stephanie Danler Copy Share Image
“I'm sick of that, I said. Young, young, young, that's what I get, all day, everyday. But I know your secret…You're all terrified of… — Stephanie Danler Copy Share Image
“I had created a life that was bent in service to all my personal cravings.” — Stephanie Danler Copy Share Image
“I knew from books, movies, and Sex and the City how I was supposed to answer. I’ve always dreamed of living here, they say. They stress the word dreamed, lengthen it, to make it sound true. I knew so many said: I came here to be a singer/dancer/actress/photographer/painter. In finance/fashion/publishing. I came here to be powerful/beautiful/wealthy. This always seemed to… — Stephanie Danler Copy Share
“You can’t cultivate them. The farmers used to take female pigs out into the countryside, lead them to the oaks, and pray. They don’t use pigs anymore, they use well-behaved dogs. But they still walk and hope.” “What happened to the female pigs?” Simone smiled. “The scent smells like testosterone to them. It drives them wild. They destroyed the land… — Stephanie Danler Copy Share
“Remember this, I told myself. Remember how quiet today is. I had the newspaper, which I would keep for years, and I was on my way to lunch in Chinatown by myself. As I contemplated the skyline this double feeling came to me as one thought, pressing in from either side of the bridge, impossible for me to reconcile: It… — Stephanie Danler Copy Share
“My palms were damp. That was the moment I realized I wanted the job. That job, at that restaurant specifically.” — Stephanie Danler Copy Share Image
“I don’t know what it is exactly, being a server. It’s a job, certainly, but not exclusively. There’s a transparency to it, an occupation stripped of the usual ambitions. One doesn’t move up or down. One waits. You are a waiter. It is fast money - loose, slippery bills that inflate and disappear over the course of an evening. It… — Stephanie Danler Copy Share
“The lilacs shed as I walked the bridge. My phone buzzed twice and I turned it off. The city was radiant and I felt untouchable. I experienced the boundlessness that ships cut from their moorings must feel. I experienced again that feeling of having money, paying the tolls, of being allowed to enter the race. Yes, I felt the freedom… — Stephanie Danler Copy Share
“You will develop a palate. A palate is a spot on your tongue where you remember. Where you assign words to the textures of… — Stephanie Danler Copy Share Image
“You will stumble on secrets. Hidden all over the restaurant: Mexican oregano, looking cauterized, as heady as pot. Large tins of Chef’s private anchovies… — Stephanie Danler Copy Share Image
