I spent three and a half years writing the novel 'Chang & Eng,' about the conjoined brothers for whom the term 'Siamese twins' was contrived, and when I think of these afflicted people, my only emotion is one of profound sympathy.
Conjoined twins are identical siblings who develop one placenta out of a single fertilised ovum. No cases of conjoined triplets or quadruplets have been documented.
I'm writing a book about Siamese Twins that are attached at the nose. It's called: Stop Staring at Me!
One of the reasons surgeons have so much trouble separating Siamese twins is that nobody gets to do many of them. On the table, the anatomy is so different from normal, that you're constantly trying to figure out, 'Can I cut this? Does this wire lead to what?' It's like trying to defuse a bomb.
Siamese twins are interesting because they are the only people who can write a biography and an autobiography at the same time.
I'm one with New York, and New York is one with me. I grew up there; there's no escaping it. We're like Siamese twins, if you separate us, I'll die.
I suppose that, for most of us, the fascination of conjoined twins is that such people can serve as symbols.
They're happy to be Siamese twins. They feel blessed. But the rest of us have to go through the world alone. And they don't. And because they have this great attitude, they have a lot of friends. They were the kings of the prom. You know, they were in the state championship hockey team. You know, they're the goalie. And it's just they're a couple of winners who happen to be Siamese twins.
An English family consists of a few persons, who, from youth to age, are found revolving within a few feet of each other, as if tied by some invisible ligature, tense as that cartilage which we have seen attaching the two Siamese.
Constant togetherness is fine - but only for Siamese twins.
What a cruel irony of fate, to pair together, like Siamese twins united by the shoulders, scientific adversaries of such contrasting character!
Lovers who are free to go when they are restless always come back; lovers who are free to change remain interesting. The bitter animosity and obscenity of divorce is unknown where individuals have not become Siamese twins.
My first book is about twins who are attached: two people who are joined and can't escape each other.
The States doesn't think much about Canada, but we're attached. We're like Siamese twins. We can't do things - you can't roll over in the American bed without waking up the Canadians. It matters.
Pride and weakness are Siamese twins.
