Ann Beattie
Ann Beattie
Ann Beattieis an American novelist and short story writer. She has received an award for excellence from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and the PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in the short story form. Her work has been compared to that of Alice Adams, J.D. Salinger, John Cheever, and John Updike. She holds an undergraduate degree from American University and a master's degree from the University of Connecticut...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth8 September 1947
CountryUnited States of America
It was very much a surprise. It's very nice when someone takes notice.
Well, I've found myself a lot of times with student manuscripts, saying to them that it worries me that their work seems hermetically sealed.
That's what I mean; if your writing doesn't transcend the era, then it would really seem to be only of very limited sociological importance.
have been forced to close and have no idea when they may reopen.
Her prose has become known for its vivid particularity, the details of the way we live.
What does it matter what my personality is? It's fair enough to talk about the stories, but they're not an autobiographical display.
Well, a few years ago I think I could have given you a more enthusiastic answer about that but in the last few years, for the first time in my life, I really haven't listened to much music. I used to work with music on and now I don't.
I feel that these stories are being written to articulate certain confusions and disappointments, and I do mean to shake up the reader, and I do hope they're on target.
I've been in this business for a long time, and I no longer think that anything that I do by way of clarification is ever going to eradicate the mistakes.
whose work has made a significant contribution to the discipline of the short story as an art form.
That is the strange thing; I don't know if you want to call it the subconscious, but things that I don't seem to notice are getting stored away.
While I would agree that I write about serious subjects, and that they're not necessarily the most pleasant subjects or even the most pleasant people, as a writer I just think about the humorous aspects of these things - that's what keeps me going when I'm writing a story.
I like a lot of Margaret Atwood, I like much of Alice Munro. Again, if you were to ask me about male writers, there's often a novel I admire, but not all of their works.
I must say also that it's never worked to my disadvantage that I have long, blond hair.