Once upon a time, I sat in my mother's lap as she turned the pages of Golden Books, and I gradually learned… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
At any given moment, I've always assumed that nearly everyone around me was smarter than I was, more naturally gifted, quicker-witted, and… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
I'm sometimes willing to put in vast, even inordinate amounts of time if I find a project that interests me. — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
It's a sad commentary on our time - to use a phrase much favored by my late father - that people increasingly… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
In my own case, my folks didn't actually object to comics, as many parents did, but they pretty much felt the things… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Deep in my cortex, the year is divided into reading seasons. The period from mid-October to Christmas, for instance, is 'ghost story'… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Since I make my living as a literary journalist, not a book scout, I spend inordinate amounts of time either reading or… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
For those of us with an inward turn of mind, which is another name for melancholy introspection, the beginning of a new… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Sad to say, multi-tasking is beyond me. I read one book at a time all the way through. If I'm reviewing the… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
On any given day, I'm likely to be working at home, hunched over this keyboard, typing Great Thoughts and Beautiful Sentences -… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
My urge at Christmas time or Hanukkah-time or Kwanzaa-time is that people go to bookstores: that they walk around bookstores and look… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
I do think digital media encourages speed-reading, which can be fine if one is simply seeking information. But a serious novel or… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Every summer, I regret that I didn't become a college teacher. Such a sweet life! With all that vacation time! You'll never… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Halloween isn't the only time for ghosts and ghost stories. In Victorian Britain, spooky winter's tales were part of the Christmas season,… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
I sometimes lie awake at night and try to imagine what would be the best period in history to spend one's seventy-odd years. — Michael Dirda Copy Share
To my mind, 'Dear Brutus' stands halfway between Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's 'Into the Woods'. Like them,… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
The goal of a just society should be to provide satisfying work with a living wage to all its citizens. — Michael Dirda Copy Share
Most lyric poetry is about love, whether yearned after, fulfilled, or wistfully regretted; what isn't tends to consist of laments and cris du coeur… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
“Books, by their very nature and variety, help us grow in empathy for others, in tolerance and awareness. But they should increase our skepticism… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
My gift, if that's not too grandiose a term, is one for describing novels, biographies, and works of history in such a way that… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
Once we know the plot and its surprises, we can appreciate a book's artistry without the usual confusion and sap flow of emotion, content… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
My wife tells me I should check out 'Downton Abbey', but I gather that series might be almost too intense for my temperate nature. — Michael Dirda Copy Share
A reviewer's lot is not always an easy one. I can remember flogging myself to finish Harold Brodkey's 'The Runaway Soul' despite the novel's… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
I once read that in vaudeville, it was often the straight guy who got paid more than the comic because that's the tougher job.… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
From the late 19th to the early 20th century, the December issue of almost any general-interest magazine regularly featured a holiday horror or two. — Michael Dirda Copy Share
Neither my mom nor my dad ever bought me any comic books. Certainly not for Christmas. I suspect that doing so would have violated… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
For me, the two weeks between Christmas and Twelfth Night have come to be reserved for desultory reading. The pressure of the holiday is… — Michael Dirda Copy Share
I've always liked an easygoing, colloquial style. I like the kind of reviewer who is essentially a fellow reader, an enthusiast, a fan. — Michael Dirda Copy Share
![“Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics - feel that [Kurt] Vonnegut started to repeat himself, to grow increasingly self-indulgent and meandering, and to sometimes just blather in his later work. But his books up…” quote by Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/ed7/michael-dirda-3414_1960s_nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-li_13506.jpg)
