“I’ve lived in this city all my life. I grew up on the Upper East Side. And when I was ten years old, I was rich, I was an aristocrat. Riding around in taxis, surrounded by comfort, and all I thought about was art and music. Now, I’m 36, and all I think about is money.”
—Wally, My Dinner with Andre
“The life of a part-time wrestler is no laughing matter. It’s not just fun and games like most people think. You work out, train constantly, push your body to the limit of endurance and nobody seems to care. I have wrestled and defeated over 400 women and what do I get? The men call me a wimp, the women say I’m a sexist pig.”
—Andy, My Breakfast with Blassie
_________________________
“I sometimes think that my secret profession is that I’m a private investigator, a detective. I always enjoy finding out about people. Even if they are in absolute agony, I always find it very interesting.”
—Wally, My Dinner with Andre
“In that four-week tour, about 20 people dropped dead of heart attacks from me biting. I was the one who introduced the first biting in wrestling. They had never seen anybody as vicious as I was in the ring.”
—Freddie, My Breakfast with Blassie
_________________________
“I was beginning to realize that the only way to make this evening bearable, would be to ask Andre a few questions. Asking questions always relaxes me.”
—Wally, My Dinner with Andre
“Have you read the latest article on herpes?”
—Andy, My Breakfast with Blassie
_________________________
“Whereas I believe that things in the universe are just there. They don’t mean anything.”
—Wally, My Dinner with Andre
“The reason I don’t like to shake hands with nobody is because I don’t know if they’ve been to the men’s room, been to the toilet, maybe their finger went right through the tissue.”
—Freddie, My Breakfast with Blassie
_________________________
“. . . We’re living in a fantasy world of our own making.”
—Andre, My Dinner with Andre
“Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am? I am Andy Kaufman from ‘Taxi.’ TV star . . . I am trying to have a conversation with my friend, Fred Blassie, five-time World Wrestling champion.”
—Andy, My Breakfast with Blassie
_________________________
“Wally, don’t you see that comfort can be dangerous? I mean, you like to be comfortable and I like to be comfortable too, but comfort can lull you into a dangerous tranquility.”
—Andre, My Dinner with Andre
“As you well know, I’ve suffered numerous injuries in my profession . . . six knee operations . . . neck has also been broken . . . nose broken seven times . . . the list is endless.”
—Freddie, My Breakfast with Blassie
_________________________
“I’m not looking for ways to get rid of a few things that provide relief and comfort. I mean, on the contrary, I’m looking for more comfort because the world is very abrasive.”
—Wally, My Dinner with Andre
“I’m ready to puke in that asshole’s face.”
—Freddie, My Breakfast with Blassie
_________________________
“Remember that moment when Marlon Brando sent the Indian woman to accept the Oscar, and everything went haywire? Things just very rarely go haywire now. If you’re just operating by habit, then you’re not really living.”
—Andre, My Dinner with Andre
“What the hell ever happened to the human race?”
—Freddie, My Breakfast with Blassie
________________________
“I treated myself to a taxi. I rode home through the city streets. There wasn’t a street, there wasn’t a building, that wasn’t connected to some memory in my mind. There, I was buying a suit with my father. There, I was having an ice cream soda after school. And when I finally came in, Debbie was home from work, and I told her everything about my dinner with Andre.”
—Wally, My Dinner with Andre
“I paid for the check, left the once crowded restaurant and got on the bus. As I rode home the streets of the city were alive with memories. Like the first time I saw a bum puking his guts out on the sidewalk.”
—Andy, My Breakfast with Blassie