I really believe that art has to play a role in changing the moral direction. Mean, selfish people are in charge of the government and we're letting them make us into a much meaner culture. It reminds me of McCarthyism, to be honest, and to the early stages of fascism. There are people out there cheering for war, treating those deaths like some kind of athletic event. How sick do we have to be that this is not only acceptable, but virtually unchallenged by other politicians or clergy or anyone? And it's artists who have to stand up and be counted. Right now.
Steve AlmondWe are all, in the private kingdom of our hearts, desperate for the company of a wise, true friend. Someone who isnโt embarrassed by our emotions, or her own, who recognizes that life is short and all that we have to offer, in the end, is love.
Steve AlmondWhy are people so fascinated by how to eat Valomilks?โ She said, โWell, Dad, theyโre round and theyโre messy. But thatโs what makes them fun. Once we get older weโre not supposed to be messy anymore. But for one moment when youโre eating a Valomilk, itโs okay to be messy again.
Steve AlmondWe need books...because we are all, in the private kingdoms of our hearts, desperate for the company of a wise, true friend.
Steve AlmondI've felt pressure to produce long fiction for as long as I've been writing fiction. There's just an incredible bias in the publishing industry toward novels and away from short stories. They're seen as D.O.A. in the marketplace, which seems nuts to me, given that various collections done smashingly and deservedly well in economic terms.
Steve AlmondI don't really think of my narrator in terms of gender. I think of them much more in basic emotional terms. As an author, you either love yer peeps or you don't. There's no such thing as a "masculine voice" or a "feminine voice". Men and women think and speak and act in, like, a zillion different ways. Also, as a gross generalization: women tend to live closer to their feelings than men.
Steve Almond