Brian Evenson

I don't think that writing, real writing, has much to do with affirming belief--if anything it causes rifts and gaps in belief…

— Brian Evenson

“What was the truth? he wondered. How important was it to know? And once he knew, what then?”

— Brian Evenson

Anything can happen: anything. Or nothing. Who can say? The world, monstrous, is made that way, and in the end consumes us…

— Brian Evenson

Truth cannot be imparted. [] It must be inflicted.

— Brian Evenson

In Kamby Bolongo Mean River damage and delusion walk hand in hand, and everything we think we know is gradually called into…

— Brian Evenson

“Curiosity is a terrible thing, he was thinking. How is it possible to stop oneself from needing to know?”

— Brian Evenson

Philosophy does provide me a structure and a way of thinking. Religion - like the religion I grew up with, Mormonism -…

— Brian Evenson

“Fiction is a set of observable manifestations, as represented and frozen in language, that triggers a profoundly subjective and individual experience. Ultimately,…

— Brian Evenson

One of the primary differences for me between fiction and poetry is that fiction uses every sort of tool that poetry does…

— Brian Evenson

“Truth cannot be imparted," said Kline. "It must be inflicted.”

— Brian Evenson

“Hell is crammed full of godly men.”

— Brian Evenson

Like a cross between Paul Auster's The Book of Illusions and Janice Lee's Damnation, The Absolution of Roberto Acestes Laing is at…

— Brian Evenson

“Still,” said Ramse. “You’re not much. You’re what you are and we love you for it, but you’re not much.”

— Brian Evenson

“He found the slot that people thought best suited him and he crammed himself into it. He grew up.”

— Brian Evenson

“Of course there’s another choice, he thought. There is always another choice. I’m just not going to take it.”

— Brian Evenson

Ideas for stories come in really different terms and really different ways for me. Sometimes they're from books, sometimes they're just kind…

— Brian Evenson

I read individual stories a lot in magazines and other places, too, but I really think there's something to be said for…

— Brian Evenson

I'm pretty instinctual when I write, and I really like to get to a point where I'm writing where I don't know…

— Brian Evenson

I don't always know what's going to go on in terms of the mood of the story. Sometimes I start with the…

— Brian Evenson

“As long as you are following God’s will, friend Kline. But even God sometimes becomes impatient. You know the story of Jonah,…

— Brian Evenson

“At times, I become confused about the order in which things should be told. Parts of me know things that other parts…

— Brian Evenson

Misreading is a big part of reading, the way in which the level of attention you're paying can lead to some interesting…

— Brian Evenson

“That’s Kline,” he said. “We know and love him. He’s like a person to us.”

— Brian Evenson

There is, in every event, whether lived or told, always a hole or a gap, often more than one. If we allow…

— Brian Evenson

“I am your friend,” Gous said. “I drank with you, didn’t I?” Kline tried to nod but nothing happened. He could see…

— Brian Evenson