“
Is your blouse Azzedine Alaia?'
'No, you could say it's VERY authentic vintage.'
Lachlain didn't care what it was; she'd never wear that damned unfinished shirt in public again.
”
”
Kresley Cole (A Hunger Like No Other (Immortals After Dark, #1))
“
Do not think that enlightenment is going to make you special, it’s not. If you feel special in any way, then enlightenment has not occurred. I meet a lot of people who think they are enlightened and awake simply because they have had a very moving spiritual experience. They wear their enlightenment on their sleeve like a badge of honor. They sit among friends and talk about how awake they are while sipping coffee at a cafe. The funny thing about enlightenment is that when it is authentic, there is no one to claim it. Enlightenment is very ordinary; it is nothing special. Rather than making you more special, it is going to make you less special. It plants you right in the center of a wonderful humility and innocence. Everyone else may or may not call you enlightened, but when you are enlightened the whole notion of enlightenment and someone who is enlightened is a big joke. I use the word enlightenment all the time; not to point you toward it but to point you beyond it. Do not get stuck in enlightenment.
”
”
Adyashanti
“
It's a funny thing, how it works...
The moment we stop trying so hard to be someone, we become ourselves--only what was there all along, waiting and peeking out from behind all the masks we wore.
And when this happens, we discover that Who We Really Are is much greater than anything we might have pretended or even hoped to be.
”
”
Jacob Nordby
“
Okay, gang," I said, "according to blueprints, there's an elevator access panel on the east side of the building. We may get a little dirty, but—"
"I thought we'd just go through the doors," Liz said, flashing three beautifully engraved invitations and some wonderfully authentic fake IDs.
The tickets were $20,000 each. The Secret Service had been vetting the guest list for weeks, so Bex and I stopped beneath a streetlamp and studied Liz.
"Do I even want to know where you got those?" I asked.
Liz seemed to ponder it, and then she said, "No.
”
”
Ally Carter (Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover (Gallagher Girls, #3))
“
I'm no use to anybody,' I say. 'I'm a cérébrale, can't you see that?'
Thinking how funny a book would be, called 'Just a Cérébrale or You Can't Stop Me From Dreaming'. Only, of course, to be accepted as authentic, to carry any conviction, it would have to be written by a man. What a pity, what a pity!
”
”
Jean Rhys (Good Morning, Midnight)
“
Well, I'm glad you're so amused," I said, running my fingers across the railing.
Maxon hopped up to sit on the railing, looking very relaxed. "You're always amusing. Get used to it."
Hmm. He was almost being funny.
"So...about what you said...," he started tentatively.
"Which part? The part about me calling you names or fighting with my mom or saying food was my motivation?" I rolled my eyes.
He laughed once. "The part about me being good..."
"Oh. What about it?" Those few sentences suddenly seemed more embarrassing than anything else I'd said. I ducked my head down and twisted a piece of my dress.
"I appreciate you making things look authentic, but you didn't need to go that far."
My head snapped up. How could he think that?
"Maxon, that wasn't for the sake of the show. If you had asked me a month ago what my honest opinion of you was, it would have been very different. But now I know you, and I know the truth, and you are everything I said you were. And more."
He was quiet, but there was a small smile on his face.
"Thank you," he finally said.
"Anytime."
Maxon cleared his throat. "He'll be lucky, too." He got down from his makeshift seat and walked to my side of the balcony.
"Huh?"
"Your boyfriend. When he comes to his senses and begs you to take him back," Maxon said matter-of-factly.
I had to laugh. No such thing would happen in y world.
"he's not my boyfriend anymore. And he made it pretty clear he was gone with me." Even I could hear the tiny bit of hope in my voice.
"Not possible. He'll have seen you on TV by now and fallen for you all over again. Though, in my opinion, you're still much too good for the dog." Maxon spoke almost as if he was bored, like he'd seen this happen a million times.
"Speaking of which!" he said a bit louder. "If you don't want me to be in love with you, you're going to have to stop looking so lovely. First thing tomorrow I'm having your maids sew some potato sacks together for you."
I hit his arm. "Shut up, Maxon."
"I'm not kidding. You're too beautiful for your own good. Once you leave, we'll have to send some of the guards with you. You'll never survive on your own, poor thing." He said all this with mock pity.
"I can't help it." I sighed. "One can never help being born into perfection." I fanned my face as if being so pretty was exhausting.
"No, I don't suppose you can help it.
”
”
Kiera Cass (The Selection (The Selection, #1))
“
That streetside tree is obscuring the air. Cut it down. Haul it in for questioning. There are secrets within that foliage. You might want to separate the branches in different rooms and apply some elementary game theory.”
“Question a plant?”
“Trees have a will too, just like people. We have to know it’s purpose. Read Schopenhauer.”
“Schopenwho?”
“He was the only authentic German. You might like him. Being a police officer, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the need to put an end to the lives of the perverse when sex crimes go too far. Now just generalize that necessity to every human being.
”
”
Benson Bruno (A Story that Talks About Talking is Like Chatter to Chattering Teeth, and Every Set of Dentures can Attest to the Fact that No . . .)
“
If you've spent any time trolling the blogosphere, you've probably noticed a peculiar literary trend: the pervasive habit of writers inexplicably placing exclamation points at the end of otherwise unremarkable sentences. Sort of like this! This is done to suggest an ironic detachment from the writing of an expository sentence! It's supposed to signify that the writer is self-aware! And this is idiotic. It's the saddest kind of failure. F. Scott Fitzgerald believed inserting exclamation points was the literary equivalent of an author laughing at his own jokes, but that's not the case in the modern age; now, the exclamation point signifies creative confusion. All it illustrates is that even the writer can't tell if what they're creating is supposed to be meaningful, frivolous, or cruel. It's an attempt to insert humor where none exists, on the off chance that a potential reader will only be pleased if they suspect they're being entertained. Of course, the reader isn't really sure, either. They just want to know when they're supposed to pretend to be amused. All those extraneous exclamation points are like little splatters of canned laughter: They represent the "form of funny," which is more easily understood (and more easily constructed) than authentic funniness.
”
”
Chuck Klosterman (Eating the Dinosaur)
“
The only funny part about Colonial Dunsboro is maybe it's too authentic, but for all the wrong reasons. This whole crowd of losers and nutcases who hide out here because they can't make it in the real world, in real jobs — isn't this why we left England in the first place? To establish our own alternate reality. Weren't the Pilgrims pretty much the crackpots of their time? For sure, instead of just wanting to believe something different about God's love, the losers I work with want to find salvation through compulsive behaviors.
”
”
Chuck Palahniuk (Choke)
“
It’s funny how when you say “yes” to something (like the man of your dreams), you don’t think about the fact that you are also saying “no” to something else.
”
”
Amy E. Spiegel (Letting Go of Perfect: Women, Expectations, and Authenticity)
“
Besides,’ continued Julian, ‘you can slam down a phone like that. You can’t slam down a mobile. Imagine, a whole generation who’ll never know the joy of slamming down a phone.
”
”
Clare Pooley (The Authenticity Project)
“
Remember your math: an anecdote is not a trend. Remember your history: the fact that something is bad today doesn't mean it was better in the past. Remember your philosophy: one cannot reason that there's no such thing as reason, or that something is true or good because God said it is. And remember your psychology: much of what we know isn't so, especially when our comrades know it too.
Keep some perspective. Not every problem is a Crisis, Plague, Epidemic, or Existential Threat, and not every change is the End of This, the Death of That, or the Dawn of a Post-Something Era. Don't confuse pessimism with profundity: problems are inevitable, but problems are solvable, and diagnosing every setback as a symptom of a sick society is a cheap grab for gravitas. Finally, drop the Nietzsche. His ideas may seem edgy, authentic, baad,while humanism seems sappy, unhip, uncool But what's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?
”
”
Steven Pinker (Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress)
“
I am committing suicide by cigarette,” I replied. She thought that was reasonably funny. I didn’t. I thought it was hideous that I should scorn life that much, sucking away on cancer sticks. My brand is Pall Mall. The authentic suicides ask for Pall Malls. The dilettantes ask for Pell Mells.
”
”
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (Welcome to the Monkey House)
“
I asked God for religious certainty, and God gave me relationships instead. I asked for solid ground, and God gave me human beings instead—strange, funny, compelling, complicated human beings—who keep puncturing my stereotypes, challenging my ideas, and upsetting my ideas about God, so that they are always under construction. I may yet find the answer to all my questions in a church, a book, a theology, or a practice of prayer, but I hope not. I hope God is going to keep coming to me in authentically human beings who shake my foundations, freeing me to go deeper into the mystery of why we are all here.
”
”
Barbara Brown Taylor (Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others)
“
My heart broke and my mind opened, tragedy works in a funny way like that ~ what once tore me apart was actually what was setting my truth free.
”
”
Nikki Rowe
“
I only like to coat things with the truth, that’s the only apparel things need these days.
”
”
J.S. Mason (The Stork Ate My Brother...And Other Totally Believable Stories)
“
Él es un chico bajito, así feillo, pelo castaño, ojos marrones, lo típico, moreno, es así feillo, pero tiene un gran personalidad, pero claro, eso no lo valoran. Es el típico friki, pero de un friki un poco distinto.Su nombre es Jack.
”
”
Dream Walker (Intentando Olvidarla.)
“
Authenticity!' Petra declares. 'We do not want it to look staged, do we? Anyway, they should count themselves lucky. Levi offered to break a couple of arms.'
'A couple of legs,' Levi corrects, Roxanne titters, though i have no idea why this is funny.
'So i'd say a punch and a scratch from a nine-year-old was getting off lightly,' Petra says.
”
”
Sarah Crossan (Breathe (Breathe, #1))
“
Keep some perspective. Not every problem is a Crisis, Plague, Epidemic, or Existential Threat, and not every change is the End of This, the Death of That, or the Dawn of a Post-Something Era. Don't confuse pessimism with profundity: problems are inevitable, but problems are solvable, and diagnosing every setback as a symptom of a sick society is a cheap grab for gravitas. Finally, drop the Nietzsche. His ideas may seem edgy, authentic, baaad, while humanism seems sappy, unhip, uncool. But what's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?
”
”
Steven Pinker (Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress)
“
Still, the appeal of regressive ideas is perennial, and the case for reason, science, humanism, and progress always has to be made. When we fail to acknowledge our hard-won progress, we may come to believe that perfect order and universal prosperity are the natural state of affairs, and that every problem is an outrage that calls for blaming evildoers, wrecking institutions, and empowering a leader who will restore the country to its rightful greatness. I have made my own best case for progress and the ideals that made it possible, and have dropped hints on how journalists, intellectuals, and other thoughtful people (including the readers of this book) might avoid contributing to the widespread heedlessness of the gifts of the Enlightenment. Remember your math: an anecdote is not a trend. Remember your history: the fact that something is bad today doesn’t mean it was better in the past. Remember your philosophy: one cannot reason that there’s no such thing as reason, or that something is true or good because God said it is. And remember your psychology: much of what we know isn’t so, especially when our comrades know it too. Keep some perspective. Not every problem is a Crisis, Plague, Epidemic, or Existential Threat, and not every change is the End of This, the Death of That, or the Dawn of a Post-Something Era. Don’t confuse pessimism with profundity: problems are inevitable, but problems are solvable, and diagnosing every setback as a symptom of a sick society is a cheap grab for gravitas. Finally, drop the Nietzsche. His ideas may seem edgy, authentic, baaad, while humanism seems sappy, unhip, uncool. But what’s so funny about peace, love, and understanding?
”
”
Steven Pinker (Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress)
“
So what’s the story your grandpa told you?” I leaned back against the blanket, propping my head in one hand and looking up at him.
“It wasn’t about the pond, I guess. It’s more about the town. I didn’t ever come to Mona when I lived here. I never had reason to - so when I asked my grandpa if there were any good fishing spots around here, and he mentioned this pond, I asked him about the town. He said Burl Ives, the singer, was once thrown in jail here in Mona. It was before his time, but he thought it was a funny story.”
“I’ve never heard about that!”
“It was the 1940’s, and Burl Ives traveled around singing. I guess the authorities didn’t like one of his songs - they thought it was bawdy, so they put him in jail.”
“What was the song?” I snickered.
“It was called Foggy, Foggy Dew. My grandpa sang it for me.”
“Let’s hear it!” I challenged.
“It’s far too lewd.” Samuel pulled his mouth into a serious frown, but his eyes twinkled sardonically. “All right you’ve convinced me,” he said without me begging at all, and we laughed together. He cleared his throat and began to sing, with a touch of an Irish lilt, about a bachelor living all alone whose only sin had been to try to protect a fair young maiden from the foggy, foggy dew.
One night she came to my bedside
When I was fast asleep.
She laid her head upon my bed
And she began to weep
She sighed, she cried, she damn near died
She said what shall I do?
So I hauled her into bed and covered up her head
Just to keep her from the foggy, foggy dew.
“Oh my!” I laughed, covering my mouth. “I don’t think I would have stuck Burl Ives in jail for that, but it is pretty funny,”
“Marine’s are the lewdest, crudest, foulest talking bunch you’ll ever find. I’ve heard much, much worse. I’ve sung much, much worse. I tried to remain chaste and virtuous, and I still have the nickname Preacher after all these years - but I have been somewhat corrupted.” He waggled his eyebrows at his ribaldry.
“I kind of liked that song…” I mused, half kidding. “Sing something else but without the Irish.”
“Without the Irish? That’s the best part.” Samuel smiled crookedly. “I had a member of my platoon whose mom was born and raised in Ireland. This guy could do an authentic Irish accent, and man, could he sing. When he sang Danny Boy everybody cried. All these tough, lethal Marines, bawling like babies
”
”
Amy Harmon (Running Barefoot)
“
She's not really your type," Ethan said, leaning against the bar.
Liam bristled. "You don't know what my type is. Maybe I've just been killing time, waiting for a woman like Daisy who is beautiful, fiercely smart, funny, kindhearted, loving, and totally dedicated to her family. She's organized and efficient, and she created an entire spreadsheet with a plan to make this marriage authentic. She's got it all under control. And she's going to kill it at quiz night tonight because she has an incredible memory for trivia. She knows how many tamales people ate in San Francisco in 1890."
Rainey and Ethan shared a look.
"He slept with her.
”
”
Sara Desai (The Dating Plan (Marriage Game, #2))
“
Well, Ramón, I must tell you the irony of this entire situation." A smug smile graced Linda's face. "When your father first tried my tacos, do you know what he liked about them?"
"He just told me he tried fish tacos during spring break, and that he met a beautiful señorita on the beach. He never said that they were your tacos."
She shook her head. "Well, ask him again. And if he still lies, bring him to me---let him lie to my face. Yes, they were my tacos. I had a stand on the beach, and he ordered two tacos and a beer."
He'd told Ramón this part of the story many times; he'd just never said that she had been the one to make the tacos. Then again, he had also left out the part about how he had stolen her recipe, if that was true.
"He loved the fresh fish."
Linda laughed. "No, that was not it at all. Yes, he did love the fish, and he had never had a fish taco. But he loved the fresh salsa. He loved the spicy batter. He loved the handmade tortillas. It's funny to me, because you have absolutely none of those elements left today in your tacos."
Linda's words struck Ramón deep in his chest. She was right. Ramón had heard the story so many times. And Papá had always talked about how fresh and delicious all the ingredients were, including the handmade tortillas.
Ramón looked at her. "I know. He told me the same thing."
Linda placed her hand on Ramón's arm. "Ironic, isn't it? He used to tell me a story about a girlfriend he had in college who had made him an awful taco with canned tomatoes, American cheese, and iceberg lettuce. That her taco was so awful, that he could never marry her. And now, that is exactly the type of taco that you serve in your restaurant."
Wow. She was absolutely right. The full reason that Papá had started Taco King was to bring authentic Mexican food to the college kids at San Diego. Somewhere along the line---due to business advisers who'd suggested cutting costs and replacing fresh tomatoes with canned, crumbled queso fresco with American cheese, and handmade tortillas with mass-produced hard shells---Papá had abandoned his vision.
”
”
Alana Albertson (Ramón and Julieta (Love & Tacos, #1))
“
Raj’s love interest, Lucy, auditioned before Mayim, and we thought she was terrific and really funny. And then Mayim came in, and aside from being awesome as well, Chuck loved that she actually had a PhD in neuroscience. It could have gone either way between Mayim or Kate, but because Mayim could bring an authenticity to the science and to the intelligence of the character, Chuck was like, “I think that’s so cool. Let’s go with her.
”
”
Jessica Radloff (The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series)
“
Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite
Another Time in a Vacuum by Roland Burisch is a witty fantasy
adventure of anachronistic proportions. Meet Monty, a timetraveling
historian who travels back to 1673. Imagine the thrill of
excitement that greets him as he meets one of history’s most
important diarists, Samuel Pepys. He musters the courage to tell
Pepys that he has important information, but the eminent diarist is
suspicious that he could be an extortionist. Monty tells Pepys that
he is from the future and that he is familiar with the contents of
Pepys’s diaries. Monty introduces the diarist to his mobile phone to
lend authenticity to his claim. Monty remembers that Sir Isaac
Newton is alive in the same period, with which Pepys concurs,
unless Newton is beheaded for heresy. But Monty tells him that
Newton will go down in history for his work. This fills Pepys with
disbelief. Monty brings the two men into the present, and these two
historical figures will witness the contemporary period with awe and
bewilderment, an adventure that they will fill with many questions.
Another Time in a Vacuum is a fascinating time-travel adventure
that is intelligent, witty, and at times, sad. While this novel takes
the idea of time travel as an essential element in the storyline, it is
more about a comparative look at the lifestyle and norms of the
past with the present. It is inevitable that the two famous men will
not understand Monty initially. But Roland Burisch equips his plot
with confidence in the intelligence of Pepys and Newton. They
eventually understand why Monty exists in their time without many
ramifications about the historical timeline getting altered. Burisch
wisely hinges on the mechanics of dialogue and the interaction of
the trio for the plot. It is also one of the reasons why this novel
works because you like the quirks of the characters. They are wise,
funny, and fish out of water. It sounds like a story that you will
enjoy reading. It is.
”
”
Roland Burisch (Another TIME in a VACUUM)
“
Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite
Another Time in a Vacuum by Roland Burisch is a witty fantasy
adventure of anachronistic proportions. Meet Monty, a timetraveling
historian who travels back to 1673. Imagine the thrill of
excitement that greets him as he meets one of history’s most
important diarists, Samuel Pepys. He musters the courage to tell
Pepys that he has important information, but the eminent diarist is
suspicious that he could be an extortionist. Monty tells Pepys that
he is from the future and that he is familiar with the contents of
Pepys’s diaries. Monty introduces the diarist to his mobile phone to
lend authenticity to his claim. Monty remembers that Sir Isaac
Newton is alive in the same period, with which Pepys concurs,
unless Newton has been beheaded for heresy. But Monty tells him that
Newton will go down in history for his work. This fills Pepys with
disbelief. Monty brings the two men into the present, and these two
historical figures will witness the contemporary period with awe and
bewilderment, an adventure that they will fill with many questions.
Another Time in a Vacuum is a fascinating time-travel adventure
that is intelligent, witty, and at times, sad. While this novel takes
the idea of time travel as an essential element in the storyline, it is
more about a comparative look at the lifestyle and norms of the
past with the present. It is inevitable that the two famous men will
not understand Monty initially. But Roland Burisch equips his plot
with confidence in the intelligence of Pepys and Newton. They
eventually understand why Monty exists in their time without many
ramifications about the historical timeline getting altered. Burisch
wisely hinges on the mechanics of dialogue and the interaction of
the trio for the plot. It is also one of the reasons why this novel
works because you like the quirks of the characters. They are wise,
funny, and fish out of water. It sounds like a story that you will
enjoy reading. It is.
”
”
Roland Burisch (Another TIME in a VACUUM)
“
As a professional speaker, my facial expressions are essential for effectively telling stories, engaging audiences, fostering involvement, and connecting on a personal level. One day I decided to get Botox in my forehead to erase a few wrinkles and signs of aging. Much to my surprise and disappointment, I could no longer raise my eyebrows. My face was stuck in a heavy-browed expression, which is the polar-opposite of my joyful spirit and enthusiastic nature. It makes a funny story, but it taught me that authenticity wins over vanity any day!
”
”
Susan C. Young (The Art of Body Language: 8 Ways to Optimize Non-Verbal Communication for Positive Impact (The Art of First Impressions for Positive Impact, #3))
“
Do your best to maintain an authentic style of writing. If you are a serious person, be serious. If you are a comic, be funny. Do not choose a style or a tone that is different from the person you really are.
”
”
Gudjon Bergmann (The Author's Blueprint)
“
His authentic indifference seems to delight them.
”
”
Richard Osman (The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club, #4))
“
And this is the critical point: in a media world where what people shout overshadows what they actually do, the backlash sometimes appears to be the only dissenter out there, the only movement that has a place for the uncool and the funny-looking and the pious, for all the stock buffoons that our mainstream culture glories in lampooning. In this sense the backlash is becoming a perpetual alter-ego to the culture industry, a feature of American life as permanent and as strange as Hollywood itself. Even as it rejects the broader commercial culture, though, the backlash also mimics it. Conservatism provides its followers with a parallel universe, furnished with all the same attractive pseudospiritual goods as the mainstream: authenticity, rebellion, the nobility of victimhood, even individuality. But the most important similarity between backlash and mainstream commercial culture is that both refuse to think about capitalism critically. Indeed, conservative populism’s total erasure of the economic could only happen in a culture like ours where material politics have already been muted and where the economic has largely been replaced by those aforementioned pseudospiritual fulfillments. This is the basic lie of the backlash, the manipulative strategy that makes the whole senseless parade possible. In all of its rejecting and nay-saying, it resolutely refuses to consider that the assaults on its values, the insults, and the Hollywood sneers are all products of capitalism as surely as are McDonald’s hamburgers and Boeing 737s.
”
”
Thomas Frank (What's the Matter With Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America)
“
Funny, but after years of practicing Extreme Self-Care, I’ve realized something ironic: if you want to live an authentic, meaningful life, you need to master the art of disappointing and upsetting others, hurting feelings, and living with the reality that some people just won’t like you. It
”
”
Cheryl Richardson (The Art of Extreme Self-Care: 12 Practical and Inspiring Ways to Love Yourself More)
“
It’s funny how when you stop trying to manage your emotions and just allow things to happen authentically, life falls into place. If
”
”
John Stamos (If You Would Have Told Me)
“
What’s most funny is that my composer friend confuses and confounds the racial
stereotypes of everybody. He is very traditionally ‘well spoken’ - even posh -
and a classical composer. He is also one of the best-dressed men going and manages to pull off 'out there’ fashions that most brothers would never try, such
as tweed suits and ponchos. Black people sometimes hear the accent, see the
clothes and assume 'he wants to be white’, because they have sadly internalised
the idea that there are only certain types of authentic ways to be black. I’ve seen
their shock too, when they realise how ‘black’ his politics are despite the suits,
the piano and the RP. He actually knows far more about African history and
culture than the vast majority of dashiki-wearing Afrocentrists. White people
often make the same mistake and say the strangest of things to him, again
thinking that he is not one of ‘those’ black people - you know, the ones that
respect and love themselves.
”
”
Akala (Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire)
“
For us, girls and women who often spend their entire lives thinking we are the “only ones,” fandoms are how we find one another—how we discover that we aren’t alone. That we can build real friendships and relationships, have meaningful dialogue, tell jokes that other people will actually find funny, and be valued for being our most real selves. They are the magic of authentic living—made very possible.
”
”
Jennifer O'Toole (Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum)
“
The funny thing is to find In an authentic smile,
your satisfaction
”
”
John M3 Frame
“
People will take bits of you and bits of others to create themselves as this picture-perfect being, and funny enough, if you know yourself, you can recognize yourself in any replica.
Continue being the authentic you.
”
”
Charmaine J. Forde
“
on 20 April – funnily enough, the same day as Hitler’s birthday – they pulled me out of my mother’s vagina with forceps because she couldn’t be bothered to push, cut the only authentic connection I ever had to her, and slapped my ass until I screamed. They wrapped me up in a cheap tea towel and whisked me away to the baby room so my drunk father could try to wave at me. And just in case that wasn’t enough trauma, the next morning the very same doctor placed himself between my legs and removed my foreskin. Ouch! Why were they clamping my penis and hacking into it with a blade? Apparently this was just so I could ‘look like Daddy’. The worst thing is, I didn’t get a say in it at all. Mongrels. It wasn’t long before my boozed-up daddy, with the neighbour’s tipsy seventeen-year-old daughter under his arm, was at the hospital, standing beside me and my pretty mother. Despite being drained from giving birth and having her lady bits hanging in tatters beneath her, I have no doubt that Mum looked stunning. She always made a point of wearing lippy. Dad bent over and covered me with his beer breath, declaring, ‘We’re going to call him Bradley.
”
”
Brett Preiss (The (un)Lucky Sperm: Tales of My Bizarre Childhood - A Funny Memoir)