In February, the overcast sky isn’t gloomy so much as neutral and vague. It’s a significant factor in the common experience of depression among the locals. The snow crunches under your boots and clings to your trousers, to the cuffs, and once you’re inside, the snow clings to you psyche, and eventually you have to go to the doctor. The past soaks into you in this weather because the present is missing almost entirely.
Charles BaxterI don't think that most women have to prove that they're real women. You live long enough, you graduate to being real.
Charles BaxterI prefer short stories, but publishers would, of course, rather that writers produce novels, since novels are still more commercially viable.
Charles BaxterA novel is not a summary of its plot but a collection of instances, of luminous specific details that take us in the direction of the unsaid and unseen.
Charles Baxter