“There is no ideal length, but you develop a little interior gauge that tells you whether or not you're supporting the house or detracting from it. When a piece gets too long, the tension goes out of it. That wordtensionhas an animal insistence for me. A piece of writing rises and falls with tension. The writer holds one end of the rope and the reader holds the other endis the rope slack, or is it tight? Does it matter to the reader what the next sentence is going to be?” WritingLittlesLongDoeEndsMatterFallNextHouseAnimalPiecesReaderIdealsSentencesTensionLengthInteriorsRopeInsistenceGaugesRise And FallDoes It Matter Author:John Jeremiah Sullivan
“I think empathy is a guy who punches you in the face at a bus station, and you're somehow able to look at that him and know enough about what situation he was in to know that he had to do that and not to hit back. That's empathy, and nothing ever happens in writing that has that kind of moral heroism about it.” ThinkingKnowsWritingLooksKindEnoughHappensAbleFacesGuySituationMoralEmpathyStationsBusHeroism Author:John Jeremiah Sullivan
“One of the best things I’ve read about that inexplicably, but endlessly, fascinating group of people, the so-called Serious Collectors of 78s. Petrusich burrows into not just their personalities but the hunger that unites and drives their obsessions. She writes elegantly, and makes you think, and most important manages to hang onto her skepticism in the midst of her own collecting quest.” PeopleThinkingWritingImportantGroupsSeriousPersonalityHungerObsessionManageBest ThingsFascinatingMidstQuestsSkepticismCollectingMake You ThinkCollectors Author:John Jeremiah Sullivan
