The idea of a talent that was bigger than an artist's ability to choose to use it, that would dictate the artist's life more than the artist could dictate, was interesting to me. — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
“I resented the idea of being talented. I couldn’t respect it — in my experience, no one else did. Being called talented at school had only made me a target for resentment. I wanted to work. Work, I could honor.” — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
Writers aren't born, they're made - from practice, reading, and a lot of caffeine. — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
I had a naiveté that I would remember the things that I had written already, but I was getting lost in the forest of… — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
“None of the young women who wanted her position knew what her position was.” — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
“Sappho isn't really meant to be read. It's meant to be sung and there were dances for the songs, also. Sappho was a performance… — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
“Nothing to fear from a fate that was already yours, then, except, perhaps, that it would never leave you.” — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
As I get ready to buy a new computer, I'm stunned at all the many micro drafts, of different chapters and scenes and whatnot,… — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
Everyone would tell me they couldn't identify with sexual abuse. No one says they can't identify with the tales of the Greek gods and… — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
“When I was a boy and I sang, my voice felt to me like a leak sprung from a small and secret star hidden… — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
“You ought to know, you were my best friend. You were. I know you loved me. I loved you. No one should have gone… — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
Each source that I read, I would look through the bibliography and the footnotes, and use that as a map for the next thing… — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
“Writers aren't born, they're made--from practice, reading, and a lot of caffeine. And sometimes tutelage.” — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
One of my big inspirations was Céleste Mogador. She was a courtesan who wrote her memoirs in order to pay off her debts, which… — Alexander Chee Copy Share Image
