Home / Authors / Jane Smiley

Jane Smiley Quotes

Novelist

Jane Smiley is an accomplished American novelist known for her profound character development and rich imagination. Her works span a variety of literary genres, including historical fiction, contemporary life, and children's literature. Her novels, such as 'A Thousand Acres' and 'Bluebird', have received widespread acclaim.

Filter quotes by topic

All Novel Writing Ifs Way Children Horse Years People Thinking Ideas Book Knows Novelists World Firsts Reader Art Facts Long Mind

Famous Jane Smiley Quotes

“When a novel has 200,000 words, then it is possible for the reader to experience 200,000 delights, and to turn back to the first page of the book and experience them all over again, perhaps more intensely.”

Firsts Book Turns Novel Reader Pages Delight

Author:Jane Smiley

“a bookstore is one of the few places where all the cantankerous, conflicting, alluring voices of the world co-exist in peace and order and the avid reader is as free as a person can possibly be, because she is free to choose among them.”

World Persons Book Order Voice Reader Bookstores Avid Alluring

Author:Jane Smiley

“There weren't too many books by women that were taught in school, so I read those on my own, and the books I read were as accessible as the ones we were reading in school.”

Book School Reading My Own Taught

Author:Jane Smiley

“Sinclair Lewis may be ripe for a revival; his books raise several interesting issues of art and fashion.”

May Art Book Interesting Issues Fashion Raises Revival Ripe

Author:Jane Smiley

“I was asked by an editor to consider writing something about an American inventor. I asked him if he knew who invented the computer. He said he didn't. In that case, I told him, I should write a book about John Vincent Atanasoff.”

Ifs Should Writing Said Book Cases Computer Editors Inventor

Author:Jane Smiley

“I wrote the Dickens book because I loved Dickens, not because I felt a kinship with him, but after writing the book it seemed to me that there was at least one similarity between us and that was that Dickens loved to write and wrote with the ease and conviction of breathing. Me, too.”

Writing Book Felt Conviction Breathing Ease Similarity Dickens Kinship

Book:Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel

Source: Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel

“Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.”

People Inspirational Feels Book Reading Inspiring Sight Mere Feel Better

Book:13 Ways of Looking at the Novel

Source: 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel

“A reader's tastes are peculiar. Choosing books to read is like making your way down a remote and winding path. Your stops on that path are always idiosyncratic. One book leads to another and another the way one thought leads to another and another. My type of reader is the sort who burrows through the stacks in the bookstore or the library (or the Web site — stacks are stacks), yielding to impulse and instinct.”

Way Book Path Type Reader Taste Instinct Library Impulse Peculiar Site Bookstores

Author:Jane Smiley

About the Author

Born: September 26, 1949
Known for: Novelist
Quotes: 153

Related Topics

Novel Writing Ifs Way Children Horse Years People Thinking Ideas Book Knows Novelists World Firsts Reader Art Facts Long Mind

Popular Topics

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

Books & Sources

13 Ways of Looking at the NovelRelated source material

MooRelated source material

The GreenlandersRelated source material

A Thousand Acres: A NovelRelated source material

A Thousand AcresRelated source material

A Year at the Races: Reflections on Horses, Humans, Love, Money and LuckRelated source material

Ordinary Love and Good WillRelated source material

Thirteen Ways of Looking at the NovelRelated source material

Duplicate KeysRelated source material

Private LifeRelated source material

Similar Authors

Paul AusterBrowse related quotes
Joyce Carol OatesBrowse related quotes
Howard GordonBrowse related quotes
John IrvingBrowse related quotes
Salman RushdieBrowse related quotes
Junot DiazBrowse related quotes
Anna QuindlenBrowse related quotes
Umberto EcoBrowse related quotes
Veryl GoodnightBrowse related quotes
Zadie SmithBrowse related quotes