A novelist is on the cusp between someone who knows everything and someone who knows nothing.
Jane SmileyAfter a long day, folk rest at night. After a long summer, folk play games and sit about in the winter. After a long life folk sit about the fire and stay warm, for the chill of death is upon them, and even the thickest bearskin can't keep off the shivering.
Jane SmileyThe main thing about the novel that is totally fascinating: It's not possessed by the writer; it's possessed by the reader.
Jane SmileyThere are hundreds of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings around the United States and in other countries, too. Wright lived into his 90s, and one of his most famous buildings, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, was completed just before his death. Wright buildings look like Wright buildings - that is their paradox.
Jane Smiley