My brother and I were able to fantasize far more extravagantly about our parents' tastes and desires, their aspirations and their vices, by scanning their bookcases than by snooping in their closest. Their selves were on their shelves. — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
“...in the midst of the tumult, part ecstasy and part panic, into which all first-time mothers are thrown by sleep deprivation and headlong identity… — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
“He simply could not imagine a time when being a Jew, or even a half Jew, was not a disability.” — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
“When he looked back at the menu as an old man, it brought back everything; the food, the wine, the private dining room, the pride he took in being able to pay for such a dinner, the convergence of his life as a writer and his life as an oenophile, the conviviality that grew as the night continued and everyone… — Anne Fadiman Copy Share
“His books commingled democratically, united under the all-inclusive flag of Literature. Some were vertical, some horizontal, and some actually placed behind others. Mine were… — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
“her father had built from ax-hewn planks thatched with bamboo and grass. The floor was dirt, but it was clean. Her mother, Foua, sprinkled… — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
Some day, as soon as a book is printed it will be simultaneously put into digital form. That will be a wonderful research tool, but it will never substitute for holding the book. I feel certain that at least within my lifetime, everyone will still be going to the bookstore and buying printed books. Thank God I'll die before I… — Anne Fadiman Copy Share
The most important thing when starting out with essay writing is to find a voice with which you're comfortable. You need to find a… — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
“Going through a dead parent's memorabilia is a hazardous undertaking; there is a fine line between pleasure and pain.” — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
“He was constantly, pathologically, insanely busy. That’s how he afforded the wine.” — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
...the reader who plucks a book from her shelf only once is as deprived as the listener who, after attending a single performance of… — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
“Benjamin Franklin wrote that he would like to be embalmed in a cask of Madeira” — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
