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Tag Archives: fiction
“Literature is the written expression of revolt against expected things.” Happy Birthday to the least happy man ever, Thomas Hardy
“A certain provincialism of feeling is invaluable. It is the essence of individuality, and is largely made up of that crude enthusiasm without which no great thoughts are thought, no great deeds done.” — Thomas Hardy That quote above from … Continue reading
“Manuscripts don’t burn.” — Mikhail Bulgakov
It’s Mikhail Bulgakov’s birthday. The author of The Master and Margarita, one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. (It’s not his only work. There are many others. But I’ll be focusing on Master and Margarita today.) It’s a … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged fiction, Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov, Russia, Stalin
11 Comments
“I was a sinister child, lazy and cynical.” — Eve Babitz
“What I wanted, although at the time I didn’t understand what the thing was because no one ever tells you anything until you already know it, was everything. Or as much as I could get with what I had to … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged essays, Eve Babitz, fiction, nonfiction
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“I have been done in by both men and women. I don’t have any preference.” — Anita Loos
“I’ve had my best times trailing a Mainbocher evening gown across a sawdust floor. I’ve always loved high style in low company.” — Anita Loos Anita Loos’ screenwriting credits are so extensive it’s impossible to absorb them. She’s most well-known … Continue reading
“There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.” — Charlotte Brontë
“It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.” — Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë was born on this day, in 1816. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Camille Paglia, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, fiction, Jane Eyre, Jeanette Winterson, L.M. Montgomery, Michael Schmidt, Villette
12 Comments
“If you don’t see the book you want on the shelves, write it.” — Beverly Cleary
“I think children want to read about normal, everyday kids. That’s what I wanted to read about when I was growing up. I wanted to read about the sort of boys and girls that I knew in my neighborhood and … Continue reading
“As an outsider I was free to pick my own literary traditions, to build my own system of literary values.” — Dubravka Ugrešić
“Retouching is our favourite artistic device. Each of us is a curator in his own museum…Uncover A, cover up B. Remove all spots. Keep your mouth shut. Think of your tongue as a weapon. Think one thing and say another. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Croatia, Dubravka Ugrešić, fiction, nonfiction, war, Yugoslavia
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“Life was bitter and I was not. All around me was poverty and sordidness but I refused to see it that way. By turning it into jokes, I made it bearable.” — Max Shulman
It’s Max Shulman’s birthday. Who the hell is Max Shulman, some of you may ask? He was one of the most popular humorists of his day, who reached his peak of popularity in the 1950s. He’s the guy who created … Continue reading
“I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.” — Jack Kerouac
It’s his birthday today. In Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Tom Wolfe paints a pretty brutal picture of Jack Kerouac, at a party in New York, when the Hippie Bus rolled into town. (Robert Stone was also at that party. He … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, fiction, Jack Kerouac, James Salter
4 Comments
“Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.” — David Foster Wallace
“Really good fiction could have as dark a worldview as it wished, but it’d find a way both to depict this world and to illuminate the possibilities for being alive and human in it.” — David Foster Wallace It’s his … Continue reading