Certain kinds of things that the novel used to do, which was, "Oh, I'm living out here in West Nowhere, Nebraska and I'm curious how the upper class in New York City lives, I guess I'll read a novel about it." We don't have to do that now. You just turn on the TV. Turn on Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous. You can get that information anywhere. Novels don't have to do that anymore.
Jonathan FranzenIt's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction.
Jonathan FranzenReaders and writers are united in their need for solitude, in their pursuit of substance in a time of ever-increasing evanescence: in their reach inward, via print, for a way out of loneliness.
Jonathan FranzenThere's a hazardous sadness to the first sounds of someone else's work in the morning; it's as if stillness experiences pain in being broken.
Jonathan Franzen