The more I like a book, the more slowly I read. this spontaneous talking back to a book is one of the things that makes reading so valuable.
Anatole BroyardI feel about lending a book the way most fathers feel about their daughters living with a man out of wedlock.
Anatole BroyardPeople ... have no idea what a hard job it is for two writers to be friends. Sooner or later you have to talk about each other's work.
Anatole BroyardWhen friends stop being frank and useful to each other, the whole world loses some of its radiance.
Anatole BroyardThe first divorce in the world may have been a tragedy, but the hundred-millionth is not necessarily one.
Anatole BroyardTo choose a writer for a friend is like palling around with your cardiologist, who might be musing as you talk to him that you are a sinking man. A writer's love for another writer is never quite free of malice. He may enjoy discussing your failures even more than you do. He probably sees you as tragic, like his characters - or unworthy of tragedy, which is worse.
Anatole Broyard