Arsenal Quote by Jonathan Evison

I'm my own "ideal reader" in the sense that I write novels that I would want to read.

— Steve Erickson

My ideal is a book that is perfect on every page, that gives you tremendous aesthetic joy on every page. I suppose I am…

— James Salter

The best novels are those that are important without being like medicine; they have something to say, are expansive and intelligent but never forget…

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

A novel is a conversation between a reader and a writer.

— John Green

“Fiction is most effective when its themes are unspoken. An ideal fiction has a kind of thematic ghostliness, whereby the novel marks its meanings…

— James Wood

Writing a novel is an intense and lonely business, but you have the reward at the end of a very direct dialogue between you…

— Neil Cross

A novel is a great act of passion and intellect, carpentry and largess. From the very beginning, I wrote to explain my own life…

— Pat Conroy

A novel should tell a story, be a pleasure to read, and at the same time it should be thought-provoking, even a bit instructive.

— Olga Tokarczuk

Reading is, at its best, not an escape; it is genuine experience. A novel is not a monologue, but a conversation, a collaboration between…

— Jonathan Evison

The book is finished by the reader. A good novel should invite the reader in and let the reader participate in the creative experience…

— Alan Lightman

To me, novels are a trip of discovery, and you discover things that you don't know and you assume that many of your readers…

— Tom Wolfe

I suspect there are two kinds of novelists. Those who have a point of view and have something to say and then write a…

— Neil Gaiman