It's unfortunately true that if you mess up a single detail of the art world the whole thing seems false, and most writers are not in a position to get the details right, because they don't hang around with artists. It's not something you can get the vague gist of. It's too specific.
Rachel KushnerI'm releasing myself from the responsibility of claiming to know when something is good and when it isn't.
Rachel KushnerEvery person has a range. In fiction, you get to be it all. Iām as much the men in my book as I am the women. I write how I write and there is no mission to stake a claim.
Rachel KushnerI was a child but weirdly uninhibited. I talked to people and inserted myself in all kinds of absurd situations. I think some of those life experiences influenced me in terms of the main character of The Flamethrowers. But for the parts where the community of artists are speaking above her level of participation, that probably came more out of my experience of being in New York in the '90s as an adult.
Rachel Kushner