“Steve Yarbrough's Safe from the Neighbors will take your breath away. Ambitious, funny, sad, smart, and beautifully crafted, it's everything a novel should be.” ShouldNovelSafeSmartBreathsNeighborAmbitious Author:Richard Russo
“When I look back over my novels what I find is that when I think I'm finished with a theme, I'm generally not. And usually themes will recur from novel to novel in odd, new guises.” ThinkingLooksNovelFinishedOddThemeGuise Author:Richard Russo
“Movies have to handle time very efficiently. They're about stringing scenes together in the present. Novels aren't necessarily about that.” TogetherNovelSceneHandle Author:Richard Russo
“You use simple brushstrokes in a screenplay for things over which you would take much greater pains in a novel.” UsePainSimpleNovelGreaterScreenplays Author:Richard Russo
“I was pretty dead set against ever writing an academic novel. It's always been my view that there are already more than enough academic novels and that most of them aren't any good. Most of them are self-conscious and bitter, the work of people who want to settle grudges.” PeopleWantWritingSelfEnoughViewsNovelConsciousBitterSettlingAcademicSelf ConsciousGrudge Author:Richard Russo
“When I start getting close to the end of a novel, something registers in the back of my mind for the next novel, so that I usually don't write, or take notes. And I certainly don't begin. I just allow things to percolate for a while.” WritingMindEndsNextNovelNotesRegisterOf My Mind Author:Richard Russo
“You can be interested in a Jane Smiley novel whether or not anyone says a word. She enters into her characters thoughts with great understanding and depth.” CharacterUnderstandingNovelDepthJaneSmiley Author:Richard Russo
