I had been a student in Vienna, and one of the neat little things I had found out was about that zoo. It was a good debut novel for me to have published. I was 26 or 27 when it was published. I already had a kid and would soon have a second. John Irving More Quotes by John Irving More Quotes From John Irving I'm a worst-case scenario person. I'm only interested in a story because I kind of go, like a magnet, to the worst thing that can happen. John Irving worst-case-scenario kind stories It's magical thinking to imagine that the reason unspeakable things are being perpetrated by younger and younger people is that they've fallen under the influence of seductive, lascivious, prurient, and violent material in books, films, television. A great deal of this type of censorship has to do with absolving parents of responsibility - parents who just plop their kids in front of the television and leave them there hour upon hour. John Irving responsibility kids book I'm not at all contemporary, not even modern, and the fact that I would be so quaintly attracted to that wrestling rule makes me, I suppose, seem all the more old-fashioned. I believe in rules of behavior, and I'm quite interested in stories about the consequences of breaking those rules. John Irving would-be wrestling believe I believe in plot, in development of character, in the effect of the passage of time, in a good story - better than something you might find in the newspaper. And I believe a novel should be as complicated and involved as you're capable of making it. John Irving plot character believe I'm not proselytizing my method. I don't believe that one writer should tell other writers how to write. John Irving should writing believe I don't begin a novel until I have written, not just the last sentence, but usually, as a result thereof, many of the surrounding final paragraphs, so that in addition to knowing what happens, I know what the voice is. John Irving finals voice knowing I suppose I try to look for those things where the world turns on you. It's every automobile accident, every accident at a party, you're having a good time until suddenly you're not. John Irving good look you time Of all the things you choose in life, you don't get to choose what your nightmares are. You don't pick them; they pick you. John Irving choose your you life I grew up in a family where, through my teenage years, I was expected to go to church on Sunday. It wasn't terribly painful. I thought some of the stories were neat; I liked some of the liturgy and some of the songs. John Irving thought sunday family church I grew up without a father, who was kept a mystery to me. There was a sense of uprootedness, things being one day here and the next day not; a sense anything could happen. Then, all of a sudden, my mother met my stepfather, and her life became happier, and my life changed, my name changed. John Irving day me mother life I believe that, in any novel of mine, the principal objective is the construction of the whole. John Irving mine principal construction believe I get up early. I like to read a little before anyone but the dog is up. I also like to read at night, not in bed but just before I go to bed. John Irving go bed dog night Titles are important; I have them before I have books that belong to them. I have last chapters in my mind before I see first chapters, too. I usually begin with endings, with a sense of aftermath, of dust settling, of epilogue. John Irving i-see see important mind I never wanted my kids to feel I was more interested in anything I was doing than I was in them. John Irving more doing feel never
