Why I like it: I imagine my high school grammar teacher, Ms. Weiner, trying to diagram this sentence. We all seek characters to drive our stories. Here, Kerouac lists requirements for the characters that attract him — in an explosion of words that burn, burn, burn with poetry that climax with the vivid burst of a double simile.
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!'”
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One Great Moment
“Besides, there’s more room …”
From a tribute by Mary Lou Logsdon, a spiritual advisor and writer in St. Paul, Minnesota, upon the death of a friend
One Great Moment
“Go out, little book, into the world.”
From an interview with author Margaret Atwood
