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Dana Spiotta

Dana Spiotta Books

Author

Dana Spiotta is an American author known for her unique narrative techniques and profound insights into modern life. Her works often focus on complex interpersonal relationships and the psychological state of contemporary society.

Wayward

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Eat the Document: A Novel

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Stone Arabia

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Related Quotes

“Only recently did it dawn on me all the things I will never do: I will never have an apartment in Rome. I will never have another lover. I will never radically change my life again.”

Book:Wayward

Source: Wayward

“I want things to be normal. I want you to call me and tell me about your life. I want to hear about Ally, and I want to talk politics. I want to garden, and walk my dog. I want my life as it is and and as it has been, until I die.”

Book:Wayward

Source: Wayward

“Why was so much noticed only in the breach, in the loss, by the regret-filled longing for what was left behind?”

Book:Wayward

Source: Wayward

“Although a great restaurant experience must include great food, a bad restaurant experience can be achieved through bad service alone. Ideally, service is invisible. You notice it only when something goes wrong.”

Invisible Restaurants Great Food Great Restaurants Bad Service

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I don't have a lot of skills, but one thing I can do is, I can compartmentalize. I can make that a little world that I can go back to, so I can be a waitress, or I can be a teacher, and then go and work on my book.”

World Littles I Can Book Can Do Teacher One Thing Skills Waitress

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I have to say that movies have as much impact on me as music. And that I learned as much about narrative from movies as I did from reading novels, how to arrange stories, how to juxtapose things.”

Stories Reading Novel Impact Narrative Reading Novels

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I locate a great deal of the power of Occupy Wall Street in the name itself, 'Occupy Wall Street,' or '#OccupyWallStreet.' It works because the name contains everything you need to know: the tactic and the target. The name is also modular. You can create your own offshoot in your own city.”

Knows Needs Names Deals Cities Streets Wall Target Tactics Occupy Wall Street

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I think it's harder than ever to be an artist. I think that you end up, especially as a middle-aged person, you pay such big consequences for saying, 'I'm just going to devote my life to making art,' or 'I'm going to devote my life to writing novels.' You end up with no resources.”

Thinking Writing Persons Art Ends Bigs Artist Pay Novel Middle Consequence Resources Harder Middle Aged

Author:Dana Spiotta

“My husband is a musician. He cooks and he's a chef but he also, he makes basement recordings. So many people in my life make basement recordings, so I feel very lucky, I'm surrounded by very creative people.”

People Feels Creative Lucky Husband Musician Cooks My Husband Chef Creative People Basements

Author:Dana Spiotta

“People think it's suspect and self-indulgent to make art, and I don't think that's true. Some people think you should be busy making something that you can sell in the marketplace, and if nobody wants to buy it, it must be crap. And that's not true.”

People Ifs Thinking Want Should Art Self Sells Busy Suspects Crap Marketplace Self Indulgent

Author:Dana Spiotta

“The idea that you can live off the grid and just do your own thing is a very American idea - that you should be able to do your own thing, if you want to, if you're willing to pay the price for it. I think the price has gotten higher and higher.”

Ifs Thinking Want Should Ideas Able Pay Willing Higher Pay The Price Grids

Author:Dana Spiotta

“There's lots of things that can't make it in the world that are worth making. There are lots of great artists who never make it, there are lots of great writers who don't get published - is it still worthwhile? Aren't we glad people are still doing it?”

People World Stills Artist Glad Worthwhile Great Art Great Artist Great Writers

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I always think the novelist should go to the culture's dark places and poke around. Pose a lot of hard questions.”

Thinking Should Hard Culture Dark Novelists Poke Dark Places Hard Questions

Author:Dana Spiotta

“Tell me it's forbidden, unthinkable, and that's where I want to go. Because the chances are it's complicated, and the complications are meaningful.”

Want Chance Complicated Meaningful Forbidden Chances Are Unthinkable Complication

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I don't feel sentimental about the past, but I can't help noticing how hard it has become to keep a grip on anything. Maybe it's the totalizing impact of corporate culture, maybe it's the atomizing impact of technology.”

Feels I Can Hard Helping Past Culture Technology Impact Corporate Sentimental Noticing Corporate Culture

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I think there's a lot to be learned from pop culture. But at the same time I see the dangers of using it in an exclusive way to construct meaning in your life.”

Thinking Way Culture Danger Pops Constructs Exclusive Pop Culture

Author:Dana Spiotta

“Most human things are full of conflict and ambivalence, not ease and simplicity. The world has grown increasingly fundamentalist, and the parameters of discussion have become narrowed. People, when they're fearful, are vulnerable to certainty in rhetoric.”

People World Humans Conflict Simplicity Vulnerable Certainty Ease Discussion Fearful Rhetoric Fundamentalist Parameters Ambivalence

Author:Dana Spiotta

“For me writing is an organic process that starts with engaging the language and then thinking about the structure of the novel as you move along. Especially in revision you start to notice correlations. Things come up, not self-consciously, because you're busy feeling your way through sentences and trying to push the language into new places.”

Thinking Way Writing Trying Self Feelings Moving Language Process Novel Structure Busy Come Up Sentences Engaging Revision Correlation New Places

Author:Dana Spiotta

“Each character requires different language, and these issues become inseparable. You have all these balls in the air: language, character, narrative. For me, the primary focus must be words, sentences, paragraphs.”

Different Character Language Issues Focus Air Balls Sentences Primaries Narrative Inseparable Paragraph Different Languages

Author:Dana Spiotta

“If you directly try to write about an idea, it will never be what you imagined. But if you're imagining through the building of sentences, through the characters, and paying attention to avoid ease and comfort yet still thinking about making the sentences work, you will get a shot at some real interesting stuff.”

Ifs Thinking Writing Trying Stills Ideas Real Character Stuff Interesting Attention Building Comfort Shots Sentences Pay Attention Ease Interesting Stuff

Author:Dana Spiotta

“You're trying to make the language work, and your subconscious is being allowed to make the deeper, more profound connections. It's much better than going at it all frontally. But you can't conjure it in an intellectual way; it has to come out of another engagement, a more intuitive engagement. Revision is where the intellectual, analytical work happens. At least for me.”

Way Trying Happens Language Intellectual Connections Profound Deeper Engagement Subconscious Intuitive Revision

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I think there's a false division people sometimes make in describing literary novels, where there are people who write systems novels, or novels of ideas, and there are people who write about emotional things in which the movement is character driven. But no good novels are divisible in that way.”

People Thinking Way Writing Ideas Sometimes Character Novel Movement Emotional Driven Division Describing Emotional Things

Author:Dana Spiotta

“There are lots of authentic, moving characters in so-called systems novels, just as there are certainly deep structural ideas in some character-driven novels.”

Ideas Character Moving Novel Driven

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I do want to write about social/cultural/historical context. I'm interested in relationships, in character, but within a specific social context. Which is kind of a political thing, I admit that. But it's what I'm interested in, and it's how I believe human behavior is legible.”

Want Writing Believe Humans Kind Character Political I Believe Social Behavior Historical Human Behavior Historical Context

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I am always trying to do something new and different. The first step is curiosity, questions. You pay attention to what fascinates you. If you can't shake it, there is something there.”

Ifs Trying Firsts Different Pay Attention Steps Curiosity Pay Attention Shakes Something New First Steps Always Trying

Author:Dana Spiotta

“The writer has to take risks and go somewhere full of mystery and possibility for the novel to deepen over the years it takes to write it.”

Writing Years Novel Risk Mystery Possibility

Author:Dana Spiotta

“The writer has to be brave, I think.”

Thinking Brave Be Brave

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I want what I write to be deeply engaging and strange and true.”

Want Writing Strange Engaging

Author:Dana Spiotta

“When I write characters, I need to hear their voice. As soon as I get them speaking, and I feel how they use language, I understand who they are and what they want.”

Want Needs Feels Writing Character Use Language Voice

Author:Dana Spiotta

“Usually there is a paradox in what a character wants. A conflict is built deeply within them. And then you put them in motion, throw everything at them until they reveal themselves further.”

Want Character Conflict Built Paradox

Author:Dana Spiotta

“You are always working towards the moments in which characters experience reckonings or insight or change. I like to track them past those moments.”

Moments Character Past Track Insight Reckoning Always Working

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I like to mix the real and the imaginary. Sometimes it is characters inspired by real people I know or know of. Sometimes it is a named person from the common cultural dreamscape. And it is tricky, because they have a lot of associated ideas that come with them, and a lot of actual facts.”

People Knows Persons Ideas Real Sometimes Character Facts Common Inspired Imaginary Tricky

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I take the outline from a real person as inspiration, but the in-line is totally made up. Which is why I usually invent imaginary names.”

Persons Made Real Inspiration Names Lines Imaginary Outlines Real Person

Author:Dana Spiotta

“Even a documentary portrait of a person that tries to be very accurate is shaped by the filmmaker in so many ways.”

Way Trying Persons Filmmaker Accurate Portraits Documentaries

Author:Dana Spiotta

“Even if we try to see people in our lives accurately, it is distorted by our own wants and prejudices and experiences.”

People Ifs Want Trying Our Lives Prejudice People In Our Lives

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I am, it seems, interested in people with multiple identities. I think we all have multiple identities.”

People Thinking Seems Identity Multiple Multiple Identities

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I am one Dana when I am talking to my daughter, another when I am talking to the IRS, and another still when I do an interview. These characters are just extreme versions of ordinary human self-switching.”

Humans Stills Self Character Talking Ordinary Daughter Extremes Versions Interviews My Daughter Irs Switching

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I find poignancy in the moments when a person realizes that she has made mistakes. I am not as interested in the mistakes themselves as I am with the consequences and how the person responds to her realization.”

Persons Made Moments Realizing Mistake Consequence Realization Made A Mistake Poignancy

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I think most writers have to have a practice of writing. For me it is very early in the morning. I try to make it a separate world from the rest of my life.”

Thinking World Writing Trying Practice Morning

Author:Dana Spiotta

“My teaching exists in a different part of my brain. However, I am lucky enough to teach very smart graduate students.”

Different Enough Brain Teach Teaching Students Lucky Smart Graduates Very Smart Graduate Students

Author:Dana Spiotta

“My teaching forces me to articulate what I think works in a piece of fiction and how I think it works. All of that gives me energy as a writer.”

Thinking Giving Energy Force Fiction Pieces Teaching Give Me

Author:Dana Spiotta

“The novel is about, for me, sustained and organized looking. I do think that people have a hunger for a sustained engagement, that concentration that the book can offer.”

People Thinking Book Novel Offers Hunger Organized Concentration Engagement

Author:Dana Spiotta

“The issue isn't, Am I good enough? No. The issue is, Do I not have any other choice? Will and desire don't matter. Ability doesn't matter. Need is the only thing that matters.”

Inspirational Needs Matter Enough Desire Choices Ability Issues Good Enough Things That Matter Only Thing That Matters

Book:Stone Arabia

Source: Stone Arabia

“Your memories from your early childhood seem to have such purchase on your emotions. They are so concrete.”

Seems Memories Emotion Childhood Concrete Our Memories Early Childhood

Author:Dana Spiotta

“Occupy Wall Street means making Wall Street and the corporate power elite understand that the people affected by the binge of unregulated greed are not going away, and they are not going to give up.”

People Giving Mean Streets Wall Giving Up Greed Corporate Going Away Affected Elites Binge Corporate Greed Occupy Wall Street

Author:Dana Spiotta

“Memory is not particularly linear - it is associative, repetitive, subjective and porous. But the writer needs to convey disorder and dysfunction without making the novel itself disorderly or dysfunctional.”

Needs Memories Novel Disorder Subjective Linear Repetitive Dysfunction

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I am a great procrastinator. When the writing is going really well, the laundry piles up.”

Writing Wells Laundry Procrastinator

Author:Dana Spiotta

“Getting an audience requires luck as well as talent. Some artists are private and shy. It costs them too much.”

Wells Artist Audience Too Much Talent Cost Luck Shy

Author:Dana Spiotta

“All roads lead to Wall Street, but we feel the effects of Wall Street on every street corner. Certainly in Syracuse, N.Y., where I live.”

Feels Streets Effects Wall Corners Street Corners Syracuse

Author:Dana Spiotta

“I like the challenge of creating a world with only sentences.”

World Challenges Creating Sentences

Author:Dana Spiotta

About the Author

Born: January 16, 1966
Known for: Author
Quotes: 58

Related Topics

Thinking Writing Novel Character People Trying Want Way World Feels

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

WaywardRelated source material

Eat the Document: A NovelRelated source material

Stone ArabiaRelated source material

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