Joyce Maynard
Joyce Maynard
Daphne Joyce Maynardis an American novelist and journalist. She received much attention from the press with the publication of her 1998 memoir At Home in the World, in which she wrote that she had lived with the writer J. D. Salinger when he was 53 and she was 18...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNon-Fiction Author
Date of Birth5 November 1953
CountryUnited States of America
believe expectations long
Long after Salinger sent me away, I continued to believe his standards and expectations were the best ones.
remember forget sometimes
No, I said. I didn't remember that. There was so much to remember, sometimes the best thing was to forget.
inspirational children rest-of-life
Imagine if you succeeded in making the world perfect for your children what a shock the rest of life would be for them.
parent portraits complicated
The portrait of my parents is a complicated one, but lovingly drawn.
believe fundamentals stories
I believe every one of us possesses a fundamental right to tell our own story.
writing long persons
I have long observed that the act of writing is viewed, by some, as an elite and otherworldly act, all the more so if a person isn't paid for what she writes.
home doors people
[On home births:] In a house where there had been three people, there were now four, although no one had come in the door.
book writing challenges
The vehemence with which certain critics have chosen not simply to criticize what I've written, but to challenge my writing this story at all, speaks of what the book is about: fear of disapproval.
pain thinking letters
Not only did I avoid speaking of Salinger; I resisted thinking about him. I did not reread his letters to me. The experience had been too painful.
writing people ugly
It troubles me that people speak about writing for money as ugly and distasteful.
years joy childhood
Those who rhapsodize about the ease and joy of childhood have perhaps forgotten what it's like to be 12 years old.
running jobs water
For a parent, it's hard to recognize the significance of your work when you're immersed in the mundane details. Few of us, as we run the bath water or spread the peanut butter on the bread, proclaim proudly, "I'm making my contribution to the future of the planet." But with the exception of global hunger, few jobs in the world of paychecks and promotions compare in significance to the job of parent.
children educational reality
One of the sad realities of being a parent is that the same stuff you know is exciting, educational, and enriching in your child'slife is often messy, smelly and exhausting to deal with.
mother children selfish
In the event of an oxygen shortage on airplanes, mothers of young children are always reminded to put on their own oxygen mask first, to better assist the children with theirs. The same tactic is necessary on terra firma. There's no way of sustaining our children if we don't first rescue ourselves. I don't call that selfish behavior. I call it love.