Previous
Danny Fantl
Kimmery is a young, attractive twenty-something woman with dark hair and glasses who studies and works at the Yorkville Zendo (a Buddhist study and meditation center). Reeling from a recent breakup, Kimmery lives a relatively rootless existence—and she feels that learning Buddhist detachment will help her to move forward from her directionless life. When Kimmery meets Lionel during his investigation into the goings-on at the shady Zendo, however, she gets more than she bargained for. Kimmery is initially intrigued by Lionel’s oddness and excited by his unique, free-associative verbal tics—but after they have sex following a series of violent mishaps at the Zendo, Kimmery becomes off-put by Lionel’s intense nature and compulsion to repeatedly call her on the phone. Flighty and naïve, Kimmery believes that Zen Buddhism has a lot to teach her—but she doesn’t realize that the Zendo to which she belongs serves as a shadow operation for a vast criminal network with ties to organized crime (both the Brooklyn mob and the Japanese Yakuza). Kimmery believes deeply in the teachings of her Roshi, or instructor—but she doesn’t know that the Roshi, Gerard Minna, came to the Zendo looking for a way to both escape the Brooklyn mob and to ingratiate himself to the wealthy and powerful Fujisaki Corporation, from whom he’s stealing. Kimmery’s naïveté mirrors but ultimately exceeds Lionel’s, as she decides she’d rather return to her old life and stay on at the Zendo than uncover the truth by Lionel’s side.
Kimmery Quotes in Motherless Brooklyn
The Motherless Brooklyn quotes below are all either spoken by Kimmery or refer to Kimmery. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Bad Cookies
Quotes
"What's to be good at?" I said.
"You have no idea. Breathing for starters. And thinking, except it's not supposed to be thinking.”
"Thinking about not thinking?"
"Not thinking about it. One Mind, they call it.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Unlock explanations and citation info for this and every other Motherless Brooklyn quote.
Plus so much more...
Get LitCharts A+
One Mind
Quotes
I can't own a cat because my behaviors drive them insane. I know because I tried. I had a cat, gray and slim, half the size of Kimmery's, named Hen for the chirping and cooing sounds she made… […] She enjoyed my attentions at first, my somewhat excessive fondling. […] But from the very first Hen was disconcerted by my head-jerks and utterances and especially by my barking. She'd tum her head to see what Id jumped at, to see what I was fishing for in the air with my hand. Hen recognized those behaviors—they were supposed to be hers. She never felt free to relax.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Auto Body
Quotes
"I'm a detective, Kimmery."
“You keep saying that, but I don't know. I just can't really accept it.”
"Why not?"
"I guess I thought detectives were more, uh, subtle."
"Maybe you're thinking of detectives in movies or on television.” I was a fine one to be explaining this distinction. "On TV they're all the same. Real detectives are as unalike as fingerprints, or snowflakes."
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
"Roshi says this thing about guilt," she said after a minute. “That it's selfish, just a way to avoid taking care of yourself. Or thinking about yourself. I guess that's sort of two different things. I can't remember."
"Please don't quote Gerard Minna to me on the subject of guilt," I said. "That's a little hard to swallow under the present circumstances.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Motherless Brooklyn LitChart as a printable PDF.
Kimmery Quotes in Motherless Brooklyn
The Motherless Brooklyn quotes below are all either spoken by Kimmery or refer to Kimmery. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Bad Cookies
Quotes
"What's to be good at?" I said.
"You have no idea. Breathing for starters. And thinking, except it's not supposed to be thinking.”
"Thinking about not thinking?"
"Not thinking about it. One Mind, they call it.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Unlock explanations and citation info for this and every other Motherless Brooklyn quote.
Plus so much more...
Get LitCharts A+
One Mind
Quotes
I can't own a cat because my behaviors drive them insane. I know because I tried. I had a cat, gray and slim, half the size of Kimmery's, named Hen for the chirping and cooing sounds she made… […] She enjoyed my attentions at first, my somewhat excessive fondling. […] But from the very first Hen was disconcerted by my head-jerks and utterances and especially by my barking. She'd tum her head to see what Id jumped at, to see what I was fishing for in the air with my hand. Hen recognized those behaviors—they were supposed to be hers. She never felt free to relax.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Auto Body
Quotes
"I'm a detective, Kimmery."
“You keep saying that, but I don't know. I just can't really accept it.”
"Why not?"
"I guess I thought detectives were more, uh, subtle."
"Maybe you're thinking of detectives in movies or on television.” I was a fine one to be explaining this distinction. "On TV they're all the same. Real detectives are as unalike as fingerprints, or snowflakes."
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
"Roshi says this thing about guilt," she said after a minute. “That it's selfish, just a way to avoid taking care of yourself. Or thinking about yourself. I guess that's sort of two different things. I can't remember."
"Please don't quote Gerard Minna to me on the subject of guilt," I said. "That's a little hard to swallow under the present circumstances.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
