Books Quote by Ben Dolnick

The death of a child occasions a passion of grief and frantic tears, such as your end, brother reader, will never inspire.

— William Makepeace Thackeray

Writing the book was quite therapeutic at times. It's emotional, it's up and down.

— Paul Mullin

Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness.

— George Orwell

I was such a sullen, angry, sad kid. I'm sure there are writers who have had happy childhoods, but what are you going to…

— Isabel Allende

The death of my daughter is a subject I talk about briefly because there is nothing more tragic.

— Ben Vereen

Unhappy and unsettled childhood helps in writing.

— Ruskin Bond

I just sort of write the book I feel like writing given the emotional place I am in my life at the time.

— Bret Easton Ellis

I've lost both parents in the last two years, so you pick up on that stuff. That's the most terrible thing about being an…

— Terry Pratchett

The first thing I tried to do in the months after losing my mother was to write a poem. I found myself turning to…

— Natasha Trethewey

Writing a book is an emotional odyssey, sometimes exhilarating, other times deflating.

— Ryan O'Neal

My writing comes not from the happy moments, but from struggle and grief.

— Isabel Allende

Obviously loss of family is huge and critical, but I think really it's more about losing a sense of family. The horror of that…

— Chang-Rae Lee