Jane Smiley
Jane Smiley
Jane Smileyis an American novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 for her novel A Thousand Acres...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth26 September 1949
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
memories creativity ideas
A theory of creativity is actually just a metaphor. A pool of ideas, a well of memories, a voice.
mind littles novelists
An urban novelist never minds a little decay.
writing icons reminders
Before I write a novel, images float around in my head that work like icons - they are meaningless in themselves, but serve as reminders.
art law people
There are five things that societies do: They reproduce; they produce food; they organize themselves in terms of law; they organize themselves in terms of belief; and they make art. Four of them are about conformity, and in these, everything would go more smoothly if people just would shut up and do what they're told. But in art it doesn't work that way.
memories writing giving
Eavesdrop and write it down from memory - gives you a stronger sense of how people talk and what their concerns are. I love to eavesdrop!
ideas gossip people
Gossip. The more you talk about why people do things, the more ideas you have about how the world works.
son grandchildren like-you
Your sons weren't made to like you. That's what grandchildren are for.
self talking agony
In the traditional urban novel, there is only survival or not. The suburban idea, the conformist idea, that agony can be seen to and cured by doctors or psychoanalysis or self-knowledge is nowhere to be found in the city. Talking is a way of life, but it is not a cure. Same with religion.
childhood feelings would-be
Most of my childhood revolved around wondering when we would be blown up by the Russians. I couldn't stand the news, I knew that if the missile were launched, mortality would arrive in half an hour, so I spent a lot of my childhood feeling that I was 30 minutes from being dead.
writing desire novel
The desire to write a novel is the single required prerequisite for writing a novel.
writing novel activity
Writing novels is an essentially amateur activity.
novelists knows cusp
A novelist is on the cusp between someone who knows everything and someone who knows nothing.
community individualism progressive
Progressivism is usually seen as a stepping back from individualism into a progressive community.
revenge facts urges
you know that the urge for revenge is a fact of marital life.