A good novelist pays attention to his characters. A good biographer pays attention to the documents before her. A good critic pays… — Michelle Dean Attention Copy Share Image
Even the best novelists are rarely congratulated on the quality of their observations about contemporary life. — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
I still think, most of the time, when people called shows like 'The Sopranos' or 'Deadwood' 'art' that they were correct. — Michelle Dean Art Copy Share Image
Peak TV has resulted in beautiful shows that have nothing in particular to tell us about humanity. — Michelle Dean Beautiful Copy Share Image
The Festival of Books is indeed a well-oiled machine, one which leaves most of the other literary festivals in America, including vaunted… — Michelle Dean America Copy Share Image
Saying that you spend Christmas alone is, to most middle-class Americans, akin to confessing a terminal illness. — Michelle Dean Alone Copy Share Image
I've come, even as a feminist, to dread the phrase 'female friendship,' because it tends to signal overdetermined relationships. — Michelle Dean Female friendship Copy Share Image
Mass market paperback thrillers are a dime a dozen. The trick is to find something that actually sticks to the ribs. — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
Most academic historians accept that historians' own circumstances demand that they tell the story in a particular way, of course. While people… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
When Paul Beatty's 'The Sellout' was first published in America in 2015, it was a small release. It got a rave review… — Michelle Dean America Copy Share Image
Research can be a boon to a novelist - there are more things in heaven and Earth than can be dreamt of… — Michelle Dean Earth Copy Share Image
Podcast listening carries with it a faint aura of cultural snobbery, a notion that to cue up an episode is to do… — Michelle Dean Aura Copy Share Image
Since the era of 'Sherlock Holmes,' private detectives had long been able to influence cases on their own. But the online detective,… — Michelle Dean Influence Copy Share Image
Indeed, there has never been any sort of organised movement of people who take their cats into the outdoors. Of course, the… — Michelle Dean Cats Copy Share Image
The forward march of American literature is usually chronicled by way of its male novelists. There is little sense, in that version… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
Many people, I've noticed by informally polling friends, are prone to distinguishing a beach read by genre. Some people thought all thrillers… — Michelle Dean Beach Copy Share Image
In an age where television is viewed as the best medium to 'tell stories,' narrative often stands in for substance on would-be… — Michelle Dean Age Copy Share Image
Beauty pageants in general are foreign and noxious to me: I can barely muster the energy to put on lip gloss and… — Michelle Dean Beauty Copy Share Image
Trump has been fiercely mocked in the media since the 1980s. But Trump learned from someone to let all the mockery roll… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
A presidential candidate changing churches is hardly unusual. Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Rand Paul have all aligned themselves with different faiths… — Michelle Dean Candidate Copy Share Image
There is an unfortunate side effect of being a person of few words: Sometimes people will assume you are less intelligent than… — Michelle Dean People Copy Share Image
The phenomenon of Instagram poets - who are also, to be fair, Tumblr poets and Pinterest poets - has been one of… — Michelle Dean Age Copy Share Image
It's become a cliche to say that a piece of drama is about 'the nature of truth.' But 'Rectify' so openly plays… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
People spend their entire lives trying to construct something to grab onto: a family, a home, a business. Rarely does anyone seem… — Michelle Dean Business Copy Share Image
When James Frey's 'A Million Little Pieces' turned out to be largely bunk, critics everywhere secretly rejoiced. They knew it, they said. — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
Telling a story about someone has enormous power. People forget a headline. They remember a story. — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
The real discovery of having your consciousness raised was never that you'd be handed tools; it was the discovery that the only… — Michelle Dean Consciousness Copy Share Image
Summer is always a tricky time to recommend new literary fiction. The big releases do not hit until fall. — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
There are many things to like about 'Mr. Robot,' the most ephemeral and yet memorable of them being the opening credits. — Michelle Dean Being Copy Share Image
Literary novelists who have a strong handle on plot are often characterized as good vacation reads because they manage to transport you… — Michelle Dean Facts Copy Share Image
Hillbilly stereotypes have always made it easier for middle-class whites to presume that racism is the exclusive province of 'that kind' of… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
Bad criticism recites rote arguments. The shame of rote arguments isn't just that they're cliches, though they are, but that they tend… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
Book awards - in America, at least - are not like the Oscars. Awards are not cumulative, and in the case of… — Michelle Dean America Copy Share Image
Among journalists, there is a saying: 'If it bleeds, it leads.' This can result in some serious hustling - and some serious… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
Great novels are maps of complication, leading nowhere in particular, taking stances only provisionally and obliquely, happy to be tangled and to… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
My parents and I - I'm an only child - are not particularly religious, but I was christened and raised in that… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
Television became defensible - and, frankly, worshipped - because the shows started to be so carefully structured, so attentive to language, and… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
Television was not cool among the young people of my era, the last years of the '90s and the early '00s. It… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
For a long time now, movie characters have generally been articulate, even chatty. Call it the influence of Woody Allen, but we… — Michelle Dean Influence Copy Share Image
While 'Twilight''s popularity was undeniable among both the teenagers they were aimed at and middle-aged women who flocked to the series in… — Michelle Dean Criticism Copy Share Image
