Books

These 14 'Dumplin' Quotes Will Inspire You To Read The Book ASAP

by Kerri Jarema

For those who haven't yet fallen in love with Julie Murphy's 2015 YA novel, Dumplin', here's a little background on the book that inspired the Netflix movie: it follows Willowdean "Dumplin" Dixon, a self-proclaimed fat girl who has always been comfortable in her own skin. With her all-American beauty best friend , Ellen, by her side, things have always worked. That is, until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Bo, a hot former jock she's attracted to but is surprised to learn likes her back When her new relationship with Bo — along with her lifelong failure to live up to her former beauty queen mom's expectations and her constant preoccupation with memories of her late aunt Lucy — lead Willowdean to start doubting herself, she decides to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant.

A wider band of misfits join Willowdean in the pageant, and what follows is a heartfelt and hilarious exploration of the true meaning of self-love, friendship, beauty, and family — oh, and its also an ode to the patron saint of fabulous, Dolly Parton. And if the movie's trailer is any indication, the Netflix film will be much the same. But before you sit down with a bowl of popcorn and your best Dolly ensemble, check out a few quotes from the book below.

'Dumplin' By Julie Murphy (Movie Tie-In Edition)

"Sometimes figuring out who you are means understanding that we are a mosaic of experiences. I’m Dumplin’. And Will and Willowdean. I’m fat. I’m happy. I’m insecure. I’m bold."

"I don't get why we call it a crush when it feels more like a curse."

"I hate seeing fat girls on TV or in movies, because the only way the world seems to be okay with putting a fat person on camera is if they’re miserable with themselves or if they’re the jolly best friend. Well, I’m neither of those things."

"It’s this reminder that no matter who you are, there will always be someone prettier or smarter or thinner. Perfection is nothing more than a phantom shadow we’re all chasing."

“I think maybe it’s the things we don’t want to talk about that are the things people most want to hear.”

"And I guess that's when I decided being good at something didn't mean you had to do it. Just 'cause something's easy doesn't make it right."

"It wasn't just the look of Dolly that drew us in. It was the attitude that came with knowing how ridiculous people thought she looked, but never changing a thing because she felt good about herself. To us, she is...invincible."

"I wish there were some kind of magic words that could bridge the cap between the person I am and the one I wish I could be. Because the whole fake it till you make it thing? It's not working for me."

"I hate that there's never anything good on TV on Saturday afternoons. It's like even the networks are trying to get you off your ass and have a life."

"I think you gotta be who you want to be until you feel like you are whoever it is you're trying to become. Sometimes half of doing something is pretending that you can."

"When you’ve known someone for so long, you don’t see the same things in them that everyone else does. But then when you’re friends because of who you were and not who you are, it’s hard not to find the common thread that stitches you together."

"There's some kind of peace that comes with knowing that for every person who is waiting to be found, there's someone out there searching."

"I've wasted a lot of time in my life. I've thought too much about what people will say or what they're gonna think. And sometimes it's over silly things like going to the grocery store or going to the post office. But there have been times when I really stopped myself from doing something special. All because I was scared someone might look at me and decide I wasn't good enough. But you don't have to bother with that nonsense. I wasted all that time so you don't have to."

"I guess sometimes the perfection we perceive in others is made up of a whole bunch of tiny imperfections, because some days the damn dress just won’t zip."