criticism
This book is not a journal; it is an exercise-book, a disorderly pile of shavings.
May 18, 1944 entry in Alfred Kazin’s Journals, selected and edited by Richard M. Cook (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2011), 61.
I remember getting one script, and the people said, “Okay, well, it needs some help with the plot, the pace, the characters and the dialogue. And I said, “What did you like about it, the typing?”
“John Sayles Interview,” The Star-Ledger (New Jersey), August 14, 2011.
Few books will I not reread sooner.
“A Murder Trial to Cover, Axes to Grind,” The New York Times, July 7, 2011.
Never demean yourself by talking back to a critic, never. Write those letters to the editor in your head, but don’t put them on paper.
The Paris Review Interviews, vol. I (New York: Picador, 2006), 33.
My relatives say that they are glad I’m rich, but that they simply cannot read me.
The Paris Review Interviews, vol. I (New York: Picador, 2006), 163.