I will read anything at all by Kate Atkinson, Daniel Woodrell, and William Kennedy, who are all fearless. Megan Abbott More Quotes by Megan Abbott More Quotes From Megan Abbott I think it was Freud who said that we're all arrested at a certain age. For me, it was always 13. Megan Abbott age said thinking Reading Tomato Red-the first Daniel Woodrell novel I came upon-was a transformative experience. It expanded my sense of the possibilities not only of crime fiction, but of fiction itself-of language, of storytelling. Time and again, his work just dazzles and humbles me. God bless Busted Flush for these glorious reissues. It's a service to readers everywhere, and a great gift. Megan Abbott tomatoes reading fiction I wrote my graduate thesis at New York University on hard-boiled fiction from the 1930s and 1940s, so, for about two years, I read nothing but Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, James Cain and Chester Himes. I developed such a love for this kind of writing. Megan Abbott new-york writing years I grew up reading crime fiction mysteries, true crime - a lot of true crime - and it is traditionally a male dominated field from the outside, but from the inside what we know, those of us who read it, is that women buy the most crime fiction, they are by far the biggest readers of true crime, and there's a voracious appetite among women for these stories, and I know I feel it - since I was quite small I wanted to go to those dark places. Megan Abbott reading dark fiction I think there are two prevailing views of the suburbs in the States: either they're this sort of tedious place, where everyone is the same, buys the same food and drives around in their little minivans, or the view is that the suburbs are extremely perverse in a humorous way. Megan Abbott humorous views thinking I don't really consider any of my novels 'crime' novels. Megan Abbott crime-novels crime novel Because they do burn leaves here, the older folks do, and I remember now that I love it and always have. The way fall feels at night because of it, because of the crackling sound and walking around the sidewalks, like when you're a kid, and kicking those soft piles, and seeing smoke from backyards and Mr. Kilstrap standing over the metal drum with the holes in the top, the sparking embers at his feet. Megan Abbott night kids fall Thrilling, illuminating, heart-pounding. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy reads like a crackling espionage novel and resonates as only the most compelling history can. Abbott brings to vivid life four extraordinary and audacious women, and runs glorious roughshod over all our traditional notions of the role of women in the Civil War. Megan Abbott liars running war The more I did it-the more it owned me. It made things matter. It put a spine into my spineless life and that spine spread, into backbone, ribs, collarbone, neck held high. It was something. Don't say it wasn't. Megan Abbott ribs empowerment matter If it hadn't been what it was, it would've been beautiful. Megan Abbott ifs beautiful No, this is throwing up like coming off the tilt-a-whirl at age seven, like discovering that dead rat under the porch, like finding out someone you loved never loved you at all. Megan Abbott tilt rats age There's something dangerous about the boredom of teenage girls. Megan Abbott boredom teenage girl I never quite know how to fill that anxious, semi-wasted time before a midday flight home. Megan Abbott never know home time I've come to believe that what draws women to true crime tales is an instinctual understanding that this is the world they live in. Megan Abbott live women believe world True crime has long been a passion for me, but I'm also a sucker for biographies, particularly of politicians, writers, or Hollywood icons. Megan Abbott true me passion long I'm always surprised at the negative response to the women in my books who are openly ambitious or experience aggression. Megan Abbott always women experience negative The speed of the TV stuff vs. the self-imposed pace of novel writing has been a big adjustment, and going back and forth often feels like whiplash. Megan Abbott back like speed writing I'm always fascinated by how different writers' rooms work. Megan Abbott how always different work There's this notion of women's bodies being out of control - so out of control that men don't understand it at all. Megan Abbott control understand women men I come from a family of readers. Our house smelled of book. Megan Abbott come family house book
