Words matter. These are the best Stephen McCauley Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
The only responsible way to write about anything is with honesty.
My partner and I weed through our bookshelves and throw stuff out regularly.
I’m not a particularly disciplined person in terms of my work habits.
Early on, I got some criticism from other gay writers and queer theorists for being too ‘assimilationist,’ probably because my characters are outsiders, even in the gay world.
I have always had someone in my life that I consider my reading mentor because I come from a family where reading was not emphasized or even approved of.
I write in public libraries and sometimes coffee shops. I can’t write at home and gave up trying long ago. I need activity around me that I’m forced to block out. It helps me focus.
It’s hard to describe the work of the British-born Australian writer Elizabeth Jolley without somewhat misrepresenting it.
The experience of writing under a pseudonym was tremendously liberating; I could write what I wanted.
Jill Eisenstadt’s comic second novel, ‘Kiss Out,’ is a work of such extravagant wackiness, eccentricity, and exuberance that any attempt to squeeze it into the confines of a simple plot summary seems doomed to failure and is possibly pointless.
I think libraries give the feeling that people are there to work. It’s a little bit like an artist’s colony in the sense that there’s some sort of shared experience. There’s respect for quiet, more or less, but otherwise, there’s activity.
I loved Victoria Glendinning’s bio of Vita Sackville-West. I also loved Michael Holroyd’s immense biography of Lytton Strachey.
The book that made me cry hardest was ‘Stoner,’ by John Williams.
If you aren’t a reader and you have a kid with his face buried in books, it can be a bit threatening. My parents viewed my reading as somewhat effeminate, but also subversive on some level.
I guess I have an aversion to writing about big events and heroic actions. The everyday has always seemed most important to me in writing, probably because I believe people reveal themselves in how they deal with small details.
I wish I could calculate my way to a bigger audience, but I don’t think I’m smart enough. Actually, I don’t think anyone is smart enough. Most calculations along those lines fail.
It’s hard to imagine anyone accusing Lionel Shriver of being a timid writer.
Jill Eisenstadt is a writer of many admirable gifts. Foremost among them are a sharp eye for people, a playful love of language, and, it’s probably safe to assume, nearly boundless energy.
I wrote two novels about a yoga studio in Los Angeles published by Penguin under the pen name Rain Mitchell.
One of my pleasures is observing people’s behavior and pointing out the inconsistencies that we all sort of have at the center of our lives.
When you’re sitting in the theater watching your own work be performed, you get to see people’s reactions immediately. Unlike with a book, you don’t have to wait for responses. That’s very satisfying. Unless it’s a joke that falls flat.
