There's Something Ugly About The Flawless.

The Brain Controls Pain. It Controls Fear. Sleep. Empathy. Hunger. Everything We Associate With The Heart Or The Soul Or The Nervous System Is Actually Controlled By The Brain. Everything. What If You Could Control It?

It's Hard To Close The Door On Optimistic Expectations When You Love Someone.

And Often The Worst Thing Wasn't The Victims--they Were Dead, After All, And Beyond Any More Pain. The Worst Thing Was Those Who Loved Them And Survived Them. Often The Walking Dead From Now On, Shell-shocked, Hearts Ruptured, Stumbling Through The Remainder Of Their Lives Without Anything Left Inside Of Them But Blood And Organs, Impervious To Pain, Having Learned Nothing Except That The Worst Things Did, In Fact, Sometimes Happen. (mystic River)

A Pretty Face Had Been Damaged By Acne Scars And She Wore And Extra Forty Pounds On Her Frame Like A Threat. Her Eyes Were Dull With Anger Disguised As Apathy. If She Kept On Her Current Path, She'd Grow Into The Type Of Person Who Fed Her Kids Doritos For Breakfast And Purchased Angry Bumper Stickers With Lots Of Exclamation Points. But Right Now, She Was Just Another In A Long Line Of Pissed-off Small-town Girls With A Shitty Outlook.

Don't Get Me Wrong, I Love Literary Fiction. It's Faux Literary Fiction I Can't Stand.