It's often said that elephants are the most human of animals - there's something comical about their acquiescence, and tragic also. The long elephant poem - I was trying to write from the point of view of someone who had… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
I seem to thrive by destroying the last thing I did, in a kind of cartoon Nietzsche way. Emerson says in "Experience" something like "every ultimate fact soon becomes the next in a series." The self feels more real when you are destroying things you've made than when you are paying them homage. That's the good news about being self-destructive.… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share
I was never trying to be funny. Being funny feels to me like an alternate form of confessionality - that is, a way of… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
I treat myself as one of the sources. And, again, I think that’s accurate. One of the poets I read most frequently is myself.… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
I write to get myself writing. That and read Wallace Stevens' "An Ordinary Evening in New Haven" for the umpteenth time. Certain authors for… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
The issue is that when you're a critic it's hard to tell the difference between the thrill of denouncing and telling the truth. Telling the truth to me feels more often like denouncing than like praising. There are many more concrete advantages in the world for people who praise than for those who denounce. So if you want to tell… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share
One problem with writing on the computer, as I do, is that the page is never really 'blank." It is backed by all this… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
“If you can orbit the planet, why can't you see what makes the human heart happy? Is it art or is it sex? Or… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
I feel most myself when I'm reading, but by that I don't mean that I'm most comfortable when I'm reading. I feel most fully… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
The main thing in poetry criticism is that I have all these opinions, and I love having something to do with them. And I… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
It's often said that elephants are the most human of animals - there's something comical about their acquiescence, and tragic also. The long elephant… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
“The most significant events, Bishop seems to argue, are destined to remain outside the scope of description. It is perhaps their very status as… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
I do care about the consequences of being negative toward people who are powerful. But I'm more afraid of not being taken seriously as… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
