Whatever Kurt Vonnegut's ultimate status will be in the annals of literature, he was important to a lot of people right now.… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Like most people, I find watching the lazy and quiet underwater realm of a big aquarium exceptionally calming. — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
People who've read my reviews know my tastes, know how I approach a book, know my background. I can write with believable… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
I think that his [Kurt Vonnegut's] appeal, though, will always be chiefly to adolescents. His sense of the world matches that of… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Basically, I think that most people either make too much money or not enough money. The jobs that are essential and important… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
My gift, if that's not too grandiose a term, is one for describing novels, biographies, and works of history in such a… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
I think of my own work as part of a decades-long conversation about books and reading with people I will mainly never… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
People sometimes think that I bring home all these old books because I'm addicted, that I'm no better than a hoarder with… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
With the possible exception of steampunk aficionados, many reasonable people must view my fascination with Victorian and Edwardian popular fiction - mysteries,… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
I don't like gross monetary inequities. I firmly believe that the wrong people and the wrong professions are being rewarded, and rewarded… — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
Many people know that Shakespeare's dramatic 'canon' was established in 1623 by the publication of the so-called First Folio. That hefty volume… — 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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
The goal of a just society should be to provide satisfying work with a living wage to all its citizens. — Michael Dirda Copy Share Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
![“I think that his [Kurt Vonnegut's] appeal, though, will always be chiefly to adolescents. His sense of the world matches that of young people, who feel deeply life's absurdity.” quote by Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2ad/michael-dirda-3414_absurdity_i-think-that-his-kurt-vonnegut-s-appeal_652900.jpg)
![“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/quotes/img-quotes/ed7/michael-dirda-3414_1960s_nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-li_13506.jpg)
