Allegra Goodman

“Reading was like visiting distant friends.”

— Allegra Goodman

“We've got an acquisitive gene. We want and want, and there's no way around it.”

— Allegra Goodman

“I have a dark sense of humor,' Fanny explained. 'What's that supposed to mean?' asked Honor. 'It means I'm funny once you…

— Allegra Goodman

Know your literary tradition, savor it, steal from it, but when you sit down to write, forget about worshiping greatness and fetishizing…

— Allegra Goodman

“How sad, he thought, that desire found new objects but did not abate, that when it came to longing there was no…

— Allegra Goodman

“Talent and intelligence, not to mention tireless hard work, got lab scientists through the door, but—this was the dirty secret—you needed luck.”

— Allegra Goodman

I think poetry bridges text and image. Poetry is visual in its imagery - but it requires close attention to words themselves.…

— Allegra Goodman

Women hate each other in science. You know why? Because the few that are around were trained by men. They survived by…

— Allegra Goodman

I do not think novels are necessarily more worthwhile than games. A novel can be a trivial waste of time, and a…

— Allegra Goodman

“Jess herself had not eaten fowl or roast or even fish in years, but the books awakened memories of turkey and thick…

— Allegra Goodman

“People ask every day, "Why was I put on earth?" As if there is perhaps one reason. The truth is that there…

— Allegra Goodman

“The roses bloomed, thousands of them in a floral amphitheater, blossoms shading from gold and coral at the top of the garden…

— Allegra Goodman

For many American-Jewish writers, the dominant motifs have been cultural, secular, sometimes comic, often satirical. Writing about the religious component of Judaism,…

— Allegra Goodman

“Though experience should be our guide . . . and we see mistakes are common at the age of twenty-three, it must…

— Allegra Goodman

“She turned the next several pages and found a black-ink drawing on a slip of typing paper, a nude woman holding a…

— Allegra Goodman

“I did think about a Ph.D. in computer science, but this is a time in industry where theory and practice are coming…

— Allegra Goodman

“She had never seen the Tree House at night. Vast and dark, lit with candles for the occasion, the rooms looked magical,…

— Allegra Goodman

“Their mother had white hands, long tapered fingers, and when she kneaded dough, her wedding ring clinked against the bowl. She was…

— Allegra Goodman

Love your material. Nothing frightens the inner critic more than the writer who loves her work. The writer who is enamored of…

— Allegra Goodman

I suspect the popularity of young adults and dystopian novels has something to do with a desire for allegory and old-fashioned morality…

— Allegra Goodman

“Sandra turned to the page with the title "Toklas' Hashich Fudge." The original hashish brownies. 'Peppercorns, nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander, stone dates, dried…

— Allegra Goodman

“You're a throwback." "To what?" Jess considered this. Hi-tech at work, Emily was paradoxically old-fashioned in her life. She didn't even own…

— Allegra Goodman

“Richard had sold Gillian's piano. He'd offered to ship it out to California, but neither Jess nor Emily played. Emily had quit…

— Allegra Goodman

“His fantasies were nurturing, not predatory. If he could have Jess, he would feed her. Laughable, antique, confusingly paternal, he longed to…

— Allegra Goodman

“Yorick's Used and Rare Books had a small storefront on Channing but a deep interior shaded by tall bookcases crammed with history,…

— Allegra Goodman

“She had applied to college without her parents' knowledge, and when she got her choral scholarship she broke from childhood, choosing music…

— Allegra Goodman

“I prefer feeling insignificant," said Jess. "I don't believe that." "I didn't say worthless, I said insignificant, as in the grand scheme…

— Allegra Goodman

“At first she felt overwhelmed by the house, its airy symmetry its silence. Now she was accustomed to the place, but she…

— Allegra Goodman

“Sentimentally, he thought of Jess. Irrationally, he despaired of having her. But this was not a question of pursuit. Raj would laugh…

— Allegra Goodman

“The sisters' voices were almost identical, laughing mezzos tuned in childhood to the same pitch and timbre. To the ear, they were…

— Allegra Goodman

“Prophecy is a poetry of change, social, political, moral, spiritual. It was with the prophetic model in mind that Shelley wrote of…

— Allegra Goodman

“She had no idea how George delighted in her funny ways, or watched her through the window as she stood outside, finishing…

— Allegra Goodman

“He draws asparagus and cabbages, but he's obsessed with artichokes. He draws them more than any other vegetable. Why artichokes?" George drained…

— Allegra Goodman

The new one actually reads, but only to pass judgment. This is the way kids learn today. Someone told them how you…

— Allegra Goodman

In novels like 'Kaaterskill Falls', I've been able to write sympathetically about religious people - and beyond that, I've been able to…

— Allegra Goodman

Here's my theory: I think both fiction and role-playing games involve a narrative journey. When that journey never ends, it feeds an…

— Allegra Goodman

“She herself vacillated when it came to belief. She did not particularly believe in God. Or, rather, she didn't believe in a…

— Allegra Goodman

I do think some games are works of art, although their medium is visual rather than verbal. Both games and novels allow…

— Allegra Goodman

“In the kitchen, her family nibbled Helen’s lemon squares. Melanie urged brownies on the nurses. “Take these,” she told Lorraine. “We can’t…

— Allegra Goodman

“Jeanne’s sisters thought nothing of themselves… Helen stayed up late in Brookline, baking. Lemon squares, and brownies, pecan bars, apple cake, sandy…

— Allegra Goodman