There were five of them remaining and it was all in the balance. But one was only three years old; just a kid. Eli didn’t think he really counted. I mean when did an entity, a human being—
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‘Feelings can be very obscure but numbers never lie.’
Kevin Brazil on metrics, obsession and fitness.
‘An intense workout is an ecstasy of punishment packaged as self-improvement.’
Mary Wellesley on exercise, ritual and Barry’s Bootcamp.
‘I was not good at sports because I would not do sports because I did not have the body for sports because I would not do sports.’
Saba Sams on girlhood, embodiment and avoiding sports.
‘Following United rarely brings me any great joy and most often it depresses me. If I could disengage, I would.’
Jonny Thakkar on Manchester United.
‘I deployed my body against an opponent like a blunt and effective instrument.’
John Patrick McHugh on playing Gaelic football.
‘Insofar as value for money is relevant to art, that audience – an attentive audience, a great audience – were determined to get it.’
Fiction by Nicola Barker.
‘Yes. Oh yes. That is who we once were. The Young must never, ever allow themselves to ignore what has brought them here.’
‘I’ve always thought of myself as someone who writes outside of the dominant culture; an outsider looking in.’
‘I have no house, from time to time I dream of having one, not a holiday home but a house to bury myself in.’
Memoir by Yasmina Reza, translated by Alison L. Strayer.
'Hips. Some never have them. Most have them but lose them. A few have them and keep them.'
