How we cite our quotes: Chapter.Paragraph
Quote #1
I could feel Tanner's doubt. I needed to really show him Amy's character. Her lies, her vindictiveness, her score-settling. I needed other people to back me up—that my wife wasn't Amazing Amy, but Avenging Amy. (37.25)
Here Nick changes the title of Amy's book series from its original goody-goody connotation to something a little more accurate. Amy might be amazing in her capacity to plot devastating revenge, but we really think Avenging Amy has a better ring to it.
Quote #2
I looked at the puppets. "So she's giving me the narrative of my frame-up." […]
"Yeah, right: You didn't want her to be pregnant, you got angry and killed her and the unborn baby […] The climax is when you are taught the lesson that Punch never learns, and you are caught and charged with murder."
"And Missouri has the death penalty," I said. "Fun game." (31.76, 81-82)
The detail of Amy's plan, right down to the symbolism in the puppets gift, has to impress you. To her, revenge isn't just something casually contemplated—you either go big or go home.
Quote #3
I could hear the tale, how everyone would love telling it: how Amazing Amy, the girl who never did wrong, let herself be dragged, penniless, to the middle of the country, where her husband threw her over for a younger woman. How predictable, how perfectly average, how amusing. And her husband? He ended up happier than ever. No. I couldn't allow that. No. Never. Never. He doesn't get to do this to me. (32.5)
Is it just us, or does Amy seem more upset that Nick ruined her perfect fairy-tale life than the fact that he cheated on her? Her desire for vengeance isn't about him wrecking the trust in their marriage (if there ever was trust to begin with)—it's because for the first time in her life, someone might think she's Average Amy instead of Amazing Amy. Heaven forbid.