She could become a spinster, like Emily Dickinson, writing poems full of dashes and brilliance, and never gaining weight.
Jeffrey EugenidesHe had the feeling that there was something physically behind his eyes, blocking the light.
Jeffrey EugenidesBut that was in the days when they expected perils to come from without, and nothing made less sense by that time than a survival room buried in a house itself becoming one big coffin.
Jeffrey EugenidesThatโs how people live, by telling stories. Whatโs the first thing a kid says when he learns how to talk? โTell me a story.โ Thatโs how we understand who we are, where we come from. Stories are everything.
Jeffrey EugenidesThe daily act of writing remains as demanding and maddening as it was before, and the pleasure you get from writing - rare but profound - remains at the true heart of the enterprise. On their best days, writers all over the world are winning Pulitzers, all alone in their studios, with no one watching.
Jeffrey EugenidesI had a briefcase at one point, but it was a kind of 1980s New Wave briefcase. It was made of some kind of cardboard and it had metal hinges. It was kind of faux industrial looking, and I used to carry my books in it rather than a backpack. I didn't want to have normal student accoutrements.
Jeffrey Eugenides