That the question of likability even exists in literary conversations is odd. It implies that we are engaging in a courtship. When characters are unlikable, they donโt meet our mutable, varying standards. Certainly we can find kinship in fiction, but literary merit shouldnโt be dictated by whether we want to be friends or lovers with those about whom we read.
Roxane GayEmotionally, my ambition is not yet sated. Emotionally, I still feel like a kid at the adult's table, yearning for recognition. I'm not sure where this all comes from but it is how I feel.
Roxane GayI don't ever rest. It's a problem and hopefully something I will get a better handle on in the coming years.
Roxane GaySome women being empowered does not prove the patriarchy is dead. It proves that some of us are lucky.
Roxane GayI think hunger is a natural state of being for most people. I mean, hunger is a desire - and you don't only have physical hunger, you have emotional hunger. A lot of my hungers are, in fact, emotional. I think a lot of fat people's hungers are emotional. There are things we very much want, and it can be so difficult to satisfy those hungers. Yet we try. We try so hard.
Roxane Gay