Novelists are always resisting autobiographical readings of their work, because they know how false those can be.
Jeffrey EugenidesEveryone struggles against despair, but it always wins in the end. It has to. It's the thing that lets us say goodbye.
Jeffrey EugenidesJacques Derrida is a very important thinker and philosopher who has made serious contributions to both philosophy and literary criticism. Roland Barthes is the one I feel most affinity for, and Michel Foucault, well, his writing influenced my novel, 'Middlesex.'
Jeffrey EugenidesI studied English literature in the honors program, which means that you had to take courses in various centuries. You had to start with Old English, Middle English, and work your way toward the modern. I figured if I did that it would force me to read some of the things I might not read on my own.
Jeffrey Eugenides