Rob Sheffield

Every mix tape tells a story. Put them together, and they add up to the story of a life.

It was really intense to see how much control over her body she could have by taking control over her clothes

Renée’s vanity was a beautiful thing

There was a lot of history in the hips, and Renée was learning her history

I have exceptionally beautiful feet, eyes, ears, hips, hair, teeth, breasts, and shoulders. And fingernails. In a different pen, she added, And eyelashes and eyebrows, plus in yet another pen, And nose. And chin

The boy and the girl, together in electric dreams.

She leaned on me hard to buy a grave for myself; I guess she thought it would seem romantic.

Everybody knows what it’s like to drive while crying; feeling like a bad country song is part of why it sucks

I had no voice to talk with because she was my whole language. Without her to talk to, there was nothing to say.

Words I said out loud, every day, many times a day, for years and years—suddenly they were dust in my mouth.