Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
a bookstore is one of the few places where all the cantankerous, conflicting, alluring voices of the world co-exist in peace and… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Sinclair Lewis may be ripe for a revival; his books raise several interesting issues of art and fashion. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
'Lean on Pete' is the story of a boy and his horse, but it is never heart-warming - it ranges in tone… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
A reader's tastes are peculiar. Choosing books to read is like making your way down a remote and winding path. Your stops… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
'The Good Soldier' is an odd and maybe even unique book. That it is a masterpiece, almost a perfect novel, comes as… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
I was asked by an editor to consider writing something about an American inventor. I asked him if he knew who invented… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
I wrote the Dickens book because I loved Dickens, not because I felt a kinship with him, but after writing the book… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
There weren't too many books by women that were taught in school, so I read those on my own, and the books… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
When a novel has 200,000 words, then it is possible for the reader to experience 200,000 delights, and to turn back to… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Some novelists are luckier than others in the eras of their formative intellectual years, but all Weltanschauungs return, which means that most novelists have… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
There can never be such a thing as a free market, because it is human nature to cheat, monopolize, and buy off others so… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
The only siblings I have are half-siblings. My nuclear family would have been an extra-suffocating threesome. Instead, I have an interesting brother and sister,… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
How will you know a good farmer when you meet him? He will not ask you for any favors. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
You know what getting married is? It's agreeing to taking this person who right now is at the top of his form, full of… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
“We watched the swimmers and sunbathers and I thought about this. Had I faced all the facts? It seemed like I had, but actually,… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
“They throw themselves on the waters of the world, and they know they will be borne up.” — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
everything is toxic. That's the point. You can't avoid toxins. Thinking you can is just another symptom of the toxic overload stage. — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
“Shame is a distinct feeling. I couldn’t look at my hands around the coffee cup or hear my own laments without feeling appalled, wanting… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
“She could not have created this moment, these lovely faces, these candles flickering, the flash of the silverware, the fragrances of the food hanging… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
Horse racing is really much more intimidating than anything having to do with literature. When I had horses at the racetrack, I would wake… — Jane Smiley Copy Share Image
