I'm not proselytizing my method. I don't believe that one writer should tell other writers how to write. — John Irving Copy Share Image
I think that writers are, at best, outsiders to the society they inhabit. They have a kind of detachment, or try to… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Ruth Cole was a novelist; novelists are not at their best when they go off half-cocked. She believed that she would prepare… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“You know, it's not only writers who have this problem, but writers really, really have this problem; for us, a so-called train… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“There’s nothing I need or want to know from the writers I admire that isn’t in their books. It’s better to read… — John Irving Copy Share Image
It's my experience that very few writers, young or old, are really seeking advice when they give out their work to be… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“According to my mother, I was a fiction writer before I'd written any ficton, by wich she meant not only that I… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Nostalgia!" Miss Frost cried. "You´re nostalgic!" She repeated. "Just how old are you, William?" She asked. "Seventeen, " I told her. "Seventeen!"… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Here was the world-famous novelist with her penchant for detail; yet, in her observations of a prostitute with a customer, she had… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“In Ruth's view, they looked 'like a couple' because they seemed to possess some terrible secret between them - they appeared stricken… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from… — John Irving Copy Share
… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life. — John Irving Copy Share
Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean––make sure they know what they mean! — John Irving Copy Share
The desire to never leave your side, the desire to never see you again. The desire to see your face asleep on the pillow… — John Irving Copy Share
I had been a student in Vienna, and one of the neat little things I had found out was about that zoo. It was… — John Irving Copy Share
“God, I think I just hit a high E-flat - and I really held it!" Esmeralda said, after one of her more prolonged orgasms,… — John Irving Copy Share
“Nostalgia!" Miss Frost cried. "You´re nostalgic!" She repeated. "Just how old are you, William?" She asked. "Seventeen, " I told her. "Seventeen!" Miss Frost… — John Irving Copy Share
“JUST BECAUSE A BUNCH OF ATHEISTS ARE BETTER WRITERS THAN THE GUYS WHO WROTE THE BIBLE DOESN'T NECESSARILY MAKE THEM RIGHT!" [Owen Meany] said… — John Irving Copy Share
It is much easier to be flexible about where a story begins than it ever was for me to change my mind about where… — John Irving Copy Share
“Only the chicken-lover will understand me. He will give me a kindly look, maybe mildly desirous. His eyes will tell me: You might look… — John Irving Copy Share
You're nice,' Cushie told him, squeezing his hand. 'And you're my oldest friend.' But they both must have known that you can know someone… — John Irving Copy Share
“Because of A Prayer for Owen Meany, many of my readers assume I am “religious.” I go to church only occasionally—like a lot of… — John Irving Copy Share
“Did anyone who was in love and was unsatisfied with how he was loved in return ever feel saved?” — John Irving Copy Share
“I TRUST THAT GOD WILL HELP ME, BECAUSE WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO DO LOOKS VERY HARD.” — John Irving Copy Share
