Jonathan Franzen Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“It's just a matter of writing the kind of book I enjoy reading. Something better be happening at the beginning, and then on every page after, or I get irritated.”

“But as far as being popular, yeah, I think Dave Barry is really funny.”

“I really enjoy doing both, but I didn't write nonfiction until 1994.”

“I was about 13, in some ways, when I wrote the first book. Approximately 18 when I wrote the second.”

“It's very liberating for me to realize that I don't have to step up to the plate with a plot that involves the U.N. Security Council.”

“'s one of the perversities of the age: I'm embarrassed by its success, but I'm happy it's selling.”

“The Mekons were kind of like the background music of my life.”

“The real pleasure in writing this, for me, was discovering how little you need.”

“I used to think it was hard to write, and I still find the process more or less unpleasant, but if I know what I'm doing it rattles along, then the rewrite whips it into shape rather quickly.”

“I wrote two plotted books, got some of the fundamentals of storytelling down, then... it's sort of like taking the training wheels off, trying to write a book that's fun in the same way without relying on quite such mechanical or external beats.”