A story begins with this nebulous feeling thatโs hard to get a hold of and youโre testing your feelings and assumptions, testing what you believe. They end up turning into keepsakes and mementos โlike amber in which a memory gets trapped.
Michael ChabonAll the preparation in the world doesn't avail you if you can't make that imaginative leap and put yourself in the position of the characters you've created, to imagine what it's like to be somebody else.
Michael ChabonHis dreams had always been Houdiniesque: they were the dreams of a pupa struggling in its blind cocoon, mad for a taste of light and air.
Michael ChabonThe truth of some promises is not as important as whether or not you can believe in them, with all your heart.
Michael ChabonMy heart was simultaneously broken and filled with lust, I was exhausted, and I loved every minute of it. It was strange and elating to find myself for once the weaker.
Michael ChabonIt never takes longer than a few minutes, when they get together, for everyone to revert to the state of nature, like a party marooned by a shipwreck. That's what a family is. Also the storm at sea, the ship, and the unknown shore. And the hats and the whiskey stills that you make out of bamboo and coconuts. And the fire that you light to keep away the beasts.
Michael Chabon