The past exudes legend: one can't make pure clay of time's mud. There is no life that can be recaptured wholly; as it was.Which is to say that all biography is ultimately fiction. — Bernard Malamud Copy Share Image
Somewhere I put it this way: first drafts are for learning what one’s fiction wants him to say. Revision works with that knowledge to enlarge and enhance an idea, to reform it. Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of… — Bernard Malamud Copy Share Image
Writers who can't invent stories often substitute style for narrative. They remind me of the painter who couldn't paint people, so he painted chairs. — Bernard Malamud Copy Share Image
We have two lives... the life we learn with and the life we live after that. Suffering is what brings us towards happiness. — Bernard Malamud Copy Share Image
“Leo hurried up to bed and hid under the covers. Under the covers he thought his life through. Although he soon fell asleep he… — Bernard Malamud Copy Share Image
First drafts are for learning what your novel or story is about. Revision is working with that knowledge to enlarge and enhance an idea,… — Bernard Malamud Copy Share Image
“Her face deeply moved him. Why, he could at first not say. It gave him the impression of youth--spring flowers, yet age--a sense of… — Bernard Malamud Copy Share Image
I am somewhat of a meliorist. That is to say, I act as an optimist because I find I cannot act at all, as… — Bernard Malamud Copy Share Image
The great thing about writing: Stay with it ... ultimately you teach yourself something very important about yourself. — Bernard Malamud Copy Share Image
We didn't starve, but we didn't eat chicken unless we were sick, or the chicken was — Bernard Malamud Copy Share Image
