It turns out that there is something that can compete with free: easy. Lev Grossman More Quotes by Lev Grossman More Quotes From Lev Grossman I'm happy to report that 'The New Press' is still in business to this day. But not thanks to me. I was a really bad publishing intern. Lev Grossman thanks publishing stills Maybe there's a sense that technology isn't necessarily the answer to a lot of our problems. Fantasy offers readers a less radically alienated world - a world where desires and feelings that normally are trapped inside your mind are made real in the form of magic. Lev Grossman technology real feelings Book tours are excellent things, and one is lucky to get to go on one, but they have a way of leeching away one's will to live. Lev Grossman lucky book way How often have I met and disliked writers whose books I love; and conversely, hated the books and then wound up liking the writer? Too often. Lev Grossman mets hated book I came from an anxious, overly intense East Coast academic family. That was the way of our tribe. Lev Grossman tribes east way That’s what death did, it treated you like a child, like everything you had ever thought and done and cared about was just a child’s game, to be crumpled up and thrown away when it was over. It didn’t matter. Death didn’t respect you. Death thought you were bullshit, and it wanted to make sure you knew it. Lev Grossman bullshit games children I have spent many, many hours reading J.K. Rowling's work. I am a known 'Harry Potter' fan. Lev Grossman potters fans reading You're saying the gods don't have free will." "The power to make mistakes," Penny said. "Only we have that. Mortals Lev Grossman pennies choices mistake She tortured everybody around her, but only because she was more tortured than anyone. Lev Grossman It's a terrible thing for a book, when you feel like you're supposed to like it. Lev Grossman terrible like-you book The truth doesn't always make a good story, does it? Lev Grossman good-story stories doe I got my heart's desire, and there my troubles began. Lev Grossman desire heart relationship We have lived too long. The great days are past. Lev Grossman great-day long past It was so much easier to be angry. Being angry made him feel strong, even though-- and this contradiction did nothing to diminish his anger-- he was angry only because his position was so weak. Lev Grossman contradiction strong weak His crush went from exciting to depressing, as if he'd gone from the first blush of infatuation to the terminal nostalgia of a former lover without even the temporary relief of an actual relationship in between. Lev Grossman relief crush depressing The real problem with being around James was that he was always the hero. And what did that make you? Either the sidekick or the villain. Lev Grossman sidekicks real hero Most people are blind to magic. They move thru a blank and empty world. They’re bored with their lives and there’s nothing they can do about it. They’re eaten alive by longing and they’re dead before they die. Lev Grossman bored people moving In a way fighting was just like using magic. You said the words, and they altered the universe. By merely speaking you could create damage and pain, cause tears to fall, drive people away, make yourself feel better, make your life worse. Lev Grossman pain fighting fall She still had her bad days, no question, when the black dog of depression sniffed her out and settled its crushing weight on her chest and breathed its pungent dog breath in her face. On those days she called in sick to the IT shop where, most days, she untangled tangled networks for a song. On those days she pulled down the shades and ran dark for twelve or twenty-four or seventy-two hours, however long it took for the black dog to go on home to its dark master. Lev Grossman crush dog song Maybe this was one of those times when being a hero didn’t involve looking particularly brave. It was just doing what you should. Lev Grossman should brave hero