Jami Attenberg

Listen: I'm OK cute. I'm no stunner.

— Jami Attenberg

Sometimes, things are just exercises.

— Jami Attenberg

It's good to pass on stories.

— Jami Attenberg

I'm pretty pro-food.

— Jami Attenberg

“I am on Team Drunk Lady, obviously.”

— Jami Attenberg

We are human beings, not ants.

— Jami Attenberg

I find that short stories are almost like palate cleansers or brain cleansers.

— Jami Attenberg

Please make me either relatable or terrible.

— Jami Attenberg

The best thing about the Web is the sound of all the individual voices rising.

— Jami Attenberg

An ellipsis is a giant ocean of possibilities.

— Jami Attenberg

“I’ve had enough me to last a lifetime,”

— Jami Attenberg

In the wintertime I like macaroni and cheese.

— Jami Attenberg

I have watched Occupy Wall Street mostly from the sidelines.

— Jami Attenberg

Anything by Lorrie Moore speaks to a certain kind of person.

— Jami Attenberg

I have very distinct memories about growing up as part of what was then a very small Jewish community in Buffalo Grove,…

— Jami Attenberg

I make up stories about people who are either imaginary or some variation of myself.

— Jami Attenberg

I had always loved life on the road. It was just something that appealed to me very deeply.

— Jami Attenberg

In your 40s, you shed those who bring you down and surround yourself with the most positive people you know.

— Jami Attenberg

What a character eats is a detail - like eye color or a favorite song. But food is also our lifeblood.

— Jami Attenberg

I think it's nearly impossible to write something fictional without having it be about yourself in some way or another.

— Jami Attenberg

As creative people, we should be really conscious of being of service in our work, being as generous as we can.

— Jami Attenberg

For years I'd thought my color was black: deep, dark, thoughtful, mysterious. Black, you can hide behind. But now I know it…

— Jami Attenberg

I did get in a few fights in school. Kids threw around anti-Semitic slurs, not knowing necessarily what they meant. It was…

— Jami Attenberg

I check my phone first thing when I wake up in the morning. I usually take it up with me to bed…

— Jami Attenberg

“She is vaguely satisfied; in fact she is on the cusp of complete satisfaction, she teeters there, undecided. To give into complete…

— Jami Attenberg

Young adult novels don't shy away from the discussion of weight issues, and 'Blubber,' the tale of an overweight, not-so-sympathetic fifth-grader bullied…

— Jami Attenberg

I just think structure can make a book feel so much bigger. It's the architecture. You could use flimsy materials if you…

— Jami Attenberg

The very best parts of me go into my writing, it is the best version of myself, and I don't think it's…

— Jami Attenberg

Most of my writer friends are women, and they're all extremely talented, so of course I think the state of contemporary fiction…

— Jami Attenberg

“It’s not that you want a baby, or want to get married, or any of it. It’s not your bag. You just…

— Jami Attenberg

What I try very hard to do is have an hour or so in the morning when I leave the house and…

— Jami Attenberg

“Look, you had it easier than me,' she says. 'You think Nana and Papa were busy supporting women's rights? No, they wanted…

— Jami Attenberg

“Are they happy at all, ever?" "No", my mother says. "I don't know if they'll survive this." "That's terrible," I say. "It's…

— Jami Attenberg

“when you get to the bar, your friend stares at the menu and orders nothing, and you are forced to say, “Aren’t…

— Jami Attenberg

When I was growing up in Chicago, my family and I used to go to a local chain, Hackney's, for burgers and…

— Jami Attenberg

“Playing with them was boring, and it wasn't even their fault. It was just the notion of playing itself. She had never…

— Jami Attenberg

“...if she had known just a few months before, during more innocent times, that she would feel that way for the rest…

— Jami Attenberg

“...and wasn't life full of layers and nuances, colored all kinds of shades of gray, and the way you felt about something…

— Jami Attenberg

We've all got flesh. I've just got a little more.

— Jami Attenberg

I smoked for many years like a total idiot.

— Jami Attenberg