“ On the deepest level in my gut, I knew she was not coming. How could she come? It was ridiculous. Idealistic. Flighty. Fantasy. But she’d told me she’d gotten a driver, and she would leave the city around ten a.m. I had to take her at her word. Though I’d possibly be cooler, more authentic, if I didn’t scrub the toilet and change my books around so the obscure ones would show. ”

- Chloe Caldwell, “Hungry Ghost” from I’ll Tell You In Person

“ Everything I wanted and tons of opportunities were in front of my face, but I didn’t understand how to take them. On Gchat I told my dad I was having a hard time, and he said, Anywhere is a prison if you let it be. ”

- Chloe Caldwell, “Berlin 2009″ from I’ll Tell You In Person

“ I got a pedicure each time I promised myself I’d stop doing heroin—which is to say, I got pedicures that whole summer. Pedicures gave me the false notion I was about to get my shit together. I wasn’t functioning well—my brain cells were spent, and my serotonin was depleted. Sitting despondent in a vinyl chair was as good as it got. ”

- Chloe Caldwell, “Soul Killer” from I’ll Tell You In Person

“ The liberating thing about publishing an essay collection before you are a fully formed person is that there is nothing to fear. You have no readers. No experience. No memories of doing it before. No wounds. The bad thing about publishing an essay collection at twenty-five, when the frontal lobe has barely finished developing, is there is nothing to fear. No readers. No experience. No memories of doing it before. No wounds. ”

- Chloe Caldwell, “In Real Life” from I’ll Tell You In Person

“ JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS a couple of years ago, I made plans with a person whom I deeply admire. I won’t say who but I’ll say this: she’s somewhere on the spectrum between Eileen Myles and Beyoncé. You probably admire her too—or you might hate her and think she’s fat. Regardless, she is a Celebrity with a capital C. ”

- Chloe Caldwell, “Hungry Ghost” from I’ll Tell You In Person