Indeed, the great paradox of the writer's life is how much time he spends alone trying to connect with other people.
Betsy LernerNo matter how many compromises were made along the way, no matter what happens in the future, a book is a thing to behold.
Betsy LernerBut I also believe there is enormous value in the piece of writing that goes no further than the one person for whom it was intended, that no combination of written words is more eloquent than those exchanged in letters between lovers or friends, or along the pale blue lines of private diaries, where people take communion with themselves.
Betsy LernerThe writer labors in isolation, yet all that intensive, lonely work is in the service of communicating, is an attempt to reach another person.
Betsy LernerWhen an editor works with an author, she cannot help seeing into the medicine cabinet of his soul. All the terrible emotions, the desire for vindications, the paranoia, and the projection are bottled in there, along with all the excesses of envy, desire for revenge, all the hypochondriacal responses, rituals, defenses, and the twin obsessions with sex and money. It other words, the stuff of great books.
Betsy Lerner