I've been an advocate against the view of the writer as a partitioned genius hanging in conceptual space, or up on a mountain, a bringer of Promethean fire, some unique transmission that comes out of nowhere. I prefer the opposite view - that writers come from somewhere. They read things, and they think about them, and they incorporate other people's thoughts.
Jonathan LethemI don't have a lot of paper in my immediate work environment, except when I'm doing things like checking the godforsaken proofs.
Jonathan LethemConsensual reality is both fragile and elastic, and it heals like the skin of a bubble.
Jonathan LethemWhen people call something "original," 9 out of 10 times they just don't know the references or original sources involved.
Jonathan Lethem