I guess in life I find people who, at first glance, appear to be very typical or average, whatever that means, and then turn out to have hidden qualities. Curtis Sittenfeld More Quotes by Curtis Sittenfeld More Quotes From Curtis Sittenfeld It's different to read a book for pleasure than to read it analytically. In the past, I'd read Pride and Prejudice for pleasure. This time, I was really looking at the structure, the order of events, how the characters interact with each other and how the book is paced. Curtis Sittenfeld pride character book In some ways I think it would be very dignified if I went away for twenty years and then wrote my fourth book. Curtis Sittenfeld book years thinking I'm able to separate fiction and reality. I guess it remains to be seen if other people are. Curtis Sittenfeld reality people fiction I think in general, novels by men tend to be taken more seriously than novels by women. Curtis Sittenfeld taken men thinking I don't know what it is about human beings but most of us really like reading about or observing sexual tension and romance. It's just so much fun. I don't know if there is some Darwinian thing in us that really responds to that, but I think the most memorable scenes to me in books and movies are the ones where a couple is about to kiss. Curtis Sittenfeld couple reading fun If you’re a parent in 2013, you have to get your hands on this book. Wise, engrossing, and so real that I fear Senior has been spying inside my house, All Joy is a must-read for those of us whose lives have been enriched and derailed by having kids. Curtis Sittenfeld senior real wise I just think that people are complicated, both men and women. It happens that I write more about women. Curtis Sittenfeld writing men thinking I had the fleeting thought then that we are each of us pathetic in one way or another, and the trick is to marry a person whose patheticness you can tolerate. Curtis Sittenfeld fleeting tricks way Of course, I didn't imagine then that I could have had a real relationship with any guy. I thought that by virtue of being me I was disqualified. Curtis Sittenfeld being-me guy real ... it struck me as so hard to believe I was really getting what I wanted; it was always easier to feel the lack of something than the thing itself. Curtis Sittenfeld easier feels believe I actually liked the disolation of winter; it was the season when it was okay to be unhappy. If I were to ever kill myself, I thought it would be in the summer. Curtis Sittenfeld unhappy summer winter But I never thought of who he wasn't, I never had to explain or defend him to myself, I didn't even care what we talked about. Curtis Sittenfeld care I wanted my life to start - but in those rare moments when it seemed like something might actually change, panic shot through me. Curtis Sittenfeld rare-moments panic might I don't think that I would ever, while writing, think to myself, "I need a little more psychological realism." Curtis Sittenfeld writing needs thinking If a man wants to be romantically involved with you, he tries to kiss you. That's the entire story, and if he doesn't kiss you, there is never a reason to wait around for him. Curtis Sittenfeld kissing waiting men After I’d told her – the mall, the taxi, Cross stroking my hair – she said, ‘Did he kiss you?’ ‘John and Martin totally would have seen that,’ I said, and as I felt myself implying the circumstances had prevented our kissing, I thought maybe this was why you told stories to other people – for how their possibilities enlarged in the retelling. Curtis Sittenfeld kissing hair people We all stood and gathered our backpacks and I looked at the floor around my chair to make sure I hadn’t dropped anything. I was terrified of unwittingly leaving behind a scrap of paper on which were written all my private desires and humiliations. The fact that no such scrap of paper existed, that I did not even keep a diary or write letters except bland, earnest, falsely cheerful ones to my family (We lost to St. Francis in soccer, but I think we’ll win our game this Saturday; we are working on self-portraits in art class, and the hardest part for me is the nose) never decreased my fear. Curtis Sittenfeld writing soccer art I guess I consider myself at times to have intuition. Curtis Sittenfeld intuition She opened her mouth but did not immediately speak, and I felt, simultaneously, the impulse to coax the words from her and the impulse to suppress them. I always thought I wanted to know a secret, or I wanted an event to unfold – I wanted my life to start – but in those rare moments when it seemed like something might actually change, panic shot through me. Curtis Sittenfeld events secret mouths I heard Gillian say, with a laugh, At this point, does anyone expect the liberals not to be total hypocrites? She was oblivious to the possibility that perhaps not everyone present shared her views, and I thought, You're sixteen. How can you already be a Republican? Curtis Sittenfeld hypocrite views laughing
