Books Quote by Ben Lerner

Writers of fiction, when they begin, are more likely to try the short form

— Irwin Shaw

“Utter objectivity...is not only impossible when judging literature, it’s not exactly desirable. Fiction involves trace elements of magic; it works for reasons we can…

— Michael Cunningham

“As social concerns override literary ones, writers seem fated to eschew virtuosity and experimentation in favor of a bland but immediately accessible style. Writing…

— Nicholas Carr

Prose is admittedly an art rooted in social intercourse, and a fiction writer is faster to find a common denominator with his cell mates…

— Joseph Brodsky

I don't mean that literary fiction is better than genre fiction, On the contrary; novels can perform two functions and most perform only one.

— Mark Haddon

Novels seem to me to be richer, broader, deeper, more enjoyable than poems.

— Philip Larkin

People used to expect literary novels to deepen the experience of living; now they are happy with any sustained display of writerly cleverness.

— Anonymous

Novels definitely come more naturally to me. When I write short stories, it's always a fight against it expanding.

— Maggie Shipstead

“Fiction is a mix of reality, the interpretation of that reality and a lot of "what if".”

— Jim Sellers

A lot of people who want to see the short story have a renaissance of readership - they tend to think of short stories,…

— Lorin Stein

The one thing fiction and non-fiction writing have in common for me is that sense of trying to get the sentences to be minimal…

— George Saunders

If you read many contemporary literary novels today, you may notice that regardless of the subject matter there's a 'sameness' about them, the way…

— Suhayl Saadi