Alan Furst
"I am not in the business of making people feel bad. I'm in the business of telling people how it might possibly turn out, that in this situation love conquers all."
Julian Barnes, Etc.
"When we talk about a novel provoking emotions, we tend to think of the emotions that have to do with our own amatory life. I think that books can be emotionally exciting in many different ways."
Adam Gopnik
"In Paris we had — not just we had, but one has — a genuinely beautiful existence. That is to say, all of the little details of life — or nearly all — are pleasing."
Manil Suri
"There's a big emphasis in this country to look at your roots and have an identity. Which is good but not the way I feel. I just take it for granted."
So You Want to Date a Stripper?
So you got a stripper's phone number, huh?
Dear Mr. President
Greg A. Bruns Phoenix, AZ 85018 The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. 43rd President: Congratulations on your new job! What a promotion, huh? All the way up to Commander In Chief - wow! You must have what the old-schoolers call "moxie." Or is that money that you need to …
Alan Lightman
"So that's the fine balance of a fiction writer...to be able to give your characters enough freedom to surprise you and yet still maintain some kind of artistic control. You are constantly balancing between those two opposing forces."
Featured Author: Robert Birnbaum
I was born in Bamberg, Germany, on February 20th, 1947. My parents, Alfred and Rachel Birnbaum, had been displaced by the war from their homes in Lvov in the Ukraine. My parents are the only two survivors of two large Jewish families. After a brief stint in an American displaced persons camp our family of …
Amy Bloom
"I feel it's an incredibly high standard that you have to hold the short story to because there is no room for that really common, perfectly understandable difficulty."
Instant Gratification
My whole life has been spent in the pursuit of instant gratification. It must be some new generation thing, or it might have something to do with my genetic makeup, I’m not sure. All I know is I don’t have any interest in anything on this planet that cannot, or will not, satisfy my immediate …