I've never been able to witness the birth of an idea. It seems as if one second, there's nothing particularly going on, and the next second, something is there. It's coming up out of my unconscious, up from places that I don't even know where they are.
From Paul Auster
The kind of fiction I'm trying to write is about telling the truth.
You see the film, you might be entertained, and if it's not a great film, it loses its power very quickly. I think even simply acceptable books stay with us a lot longer.
Movies are not novels, and that's why, when filmmakers try to adapt novels, particularly long or complex novels, the result is almost always failure. It can't be done.
I can never say 'why' about anything I do. I suppose I can say 'how' and 'when' and 'what.' But 'why' is impenetrable to me.
Stories surge up out of nowhere, and if they feel compelling, you follow them. You let them unfold inside you and see where they are going to lead.
For some reason, all my characters come to me with their names attached to them. I never have to search for the names.
I really do feel part of America to my very bones; at the same time, I know that I come from somewhere else.
I think I hate cynicism more than anything else. It's the curse of our age, and I want to avoid it at all costs.
When you're young, you keep reading new writers and you keep changing your mind about how you ought to sound.
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