Jonathan Coe

I was going to say 'my friend Stuart', but I suppose he's not a friend any more. I seem to have lost…

— Jonathan Coe

“The upshot was that she lost her religion - with a vengeance - and walked out on him, taking these three daughters…

— Jonathan Coe

The plain fact is that she never really liked me, and never wanted me. I had been a mistake; and that, to…

— Jonathan Coe

“Yes, she would have been partial to men, perhaps she might even have confined herself to one man in particular, if only…

— Jonathan Coe

“You didn't take part, Benjamin?" Gunther asked, as he passed me a plate of cheese and cold meat. "My brother doesn't play…

— Jonathan Coe

As soon as you start writing about how human beings interact with each other socially, you're into politics, aren't you?

— Jonathan Coe

I like the idea of a big caesura between the narratives, a space which readers can fill in with their own speculative…

— Jonathan Coe

They were written in the early '90s when I was strapped for cash.

— Jonathan Coe

The more melancholy side of my literary personality is much in tune with BS Johnson's.

— Jonathan Coe

I had no sense of any reputation that What a Carve Up! might acquire - at the time I didnt even have…

— Jonathan Coe

Ah, well, I have no talent for nonfiction, that's my problem.

— Jonathan Coe

But at the same time, I have trouble keeping things out of books, which is why I don't write short stories because…

— Jonathan Coe

“Save some pity for the Misfit, fighting on with bursting heart; Not a trace of common sense, his is no common flight.…

— Jonathan Coe

“Well, there'll be an outcry, of course, but then it'll die down and something else will come along for people to get…

— Jonathan Coe

“Le auto sono come le persone. Ogni giorno andiamo in giro in mezzo alla ressa, corriamo di qua e di là, arrivando…

— Jonathan Coe

“...he was the proud owner of a quite colossal member, which on the many awestruck occasions it had been exposed to public…

— Jonathan Coe

Some people don't realize that a straight 'No' can be the kindest answer in the world.

— Jonathan Coe

As I said, I had no publisher for What a Carve Up! while I was writing it, so all we had to…

— Jonathan Coe

It's only a drawback in the States, where most people seem to have no real interest in other countries and the notion…

— Jonathan Coe

“Me gusta la lluvia antes de caer. Ya sé que no existe. Por eso es mi favorita. Porque no hace falta que…

— Jonathan Coe

“Yes - I've learned from my mistakes, and I'm sure I could repeat them perfectly.”

— Jonathan Coe

“I don't mind summer rain. In fact I like it. It's my favourite sort.' 'Your favourite sort of rain?' said Thea. I…

— Jonathan Coe

“[...] words are tricky little bastards, and very rarely say what you want them to say [...]”

— Jonathan Coe

We say, 'Shall we meet for a drink?', as though drinking were the main end of the appointment, and the matter of…

— Jonathan Coe

“There’s a fine line between forgetting an event, and suppressing the memory of it.”

— Jonathan Coe