I write to get myself writing. That and read Wallace Stevens' "An Ordinary Evening in New Haven" for the umpteenth time. Certain authors for me, certain books, just by reading a phrase I feel I can write. — 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… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
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… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
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
If you are made for flight, intended for it, you had better find a pursuer, fast. Otherwise, all that fleeing is going nowhere. — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
The events in America now have the quality of things you would find out about long after the fact, and think: if only we… — Dan Chiasson Copy Share Image
