“If I had to summarize, most broadly, my concerns as a writer, I'd say the question 'How then must we live?' is at the heart of it, for me.” IfsHeartConcern Author:Claire Messud
“If you’re reading to find friends, you’re in deep trouble. We read to find life, in all its possibilities. The relevant question isn’t ‘Is this a potential friend for me?’ but ‘Is this character alive?'” IfsCharacterReadingAliveTroublePossibilityRelevant Author:Claire Messud
“We live in a culture that wants to put a redemptive face on everything, so anger doesn't sit well with any of us. But I think women's anger sits less well than anything else. Women's anger is very scary to people, and to no one more than other women who think: Oh, goodness, well, if I let the lid off, where would we be?” PeopleIfsThinkingWantWellsFacesCultureFeminismGoodnessScary Author:Claire Messud
“Anyway, these books I love, they’re all books by men—every last one of them. Because if it’s unseemly and possibly dangerous for a man to be angry, it’s totally unacceptable for a woman to be angry. I wanted to write a voice that for me, as a reader, had been missing from the chorus: the voice of an angry woman.” IfsMenWritingBookWantedLastsVoiceDangerousMissingReaderAngryChorusAngry Women Author:Claire Messud
