“Lyrics are back, maybe. It seems like there was a bit of an attitude that lyrics are not important.” Quote by Stephen Malkmus
“Once I got interested in organized crime, and, specifically, Jewish organized crime, I got very interested in it. I have learned that, like my narrator Hannah, I'm a crime writer in my own peculiar way. Crime with a capital "C" is the subject that I'm stuck with - even Sway is about "crime" in a certain way. The nice thing about crime is that it enables you to deal with some big questioO” WayBigsCertainMy OwnDealsNiceSubjectsCrimeStuckOrganizedPeculiarI Have LearnedNice ThingsNarratorsOrganized Crime Author:Zachary Lazar
“So much of rock lyrics is just a mirror of real feeling. It doesn't feel dangerous to me. They just feel like "rock lyrics."” FeelsRealFeelingsRocksDangerousMirrorsReal Feelings Author:Stephen Malkmus
“In the early '90s, it felt like there was space - there was like an empty feel. There was nobody really doing this. Maybe the Pixies were, a little bit. Their lyrics were also disjointed, more psychosexual or something. That's part of youth, too, maybe, that you just feel like you're doing something different.” FeelsLittlesDifferentFeltBitsSpaceYouthLike YouLittle BitEmptyPixies Author:Stephen Malkmus
“I just imagine that every song in and of itself is great, but when you add them all up, it's too much of me maybe.” SongToo MuchImagineAddImagine That Author:Stephen Malkmus
“Basically, no one else gives me any opinions on lyrics. I don't ask for them. If they did, I would listen.” IfsGivingAsksOpinionGive Me Author:Stephen Malkmus
“I wanted to literalize the surreal here. Those are my favorite kinds of stories. I love when Gabriel García Márquez does that, for instance - it adds to the joy, dares you to believe the unbelievable. And why not: so much of life is so dreamlike, so strange, so absurd.” BelieveKindDoeStoriesWantedLife IsJoyStrangeAddMy FavoriteDareAbsurdInstanceWhy NotUnbelievableSurrealGabriel Author:Porochista Khakpour
“I love outsider stories. And I also like a lot of genre fiction, too. So I wanted to write a literary book that flirted with thriller and fantasy and even science fiction. I wanted the coming-of-age story and the love story to be about "outsiderdom" - one of the themes I am most interested in.” WritingBookStoriesAgeWantedFictionFantasyScience FictionLove StoryGenreThemeComing Of AgeOutsidersThrillers Author:Porochista Khakpour
“The original Zal story by Ferdowsi gives a very moving account of an infant who had all odds against him - he was left to die in the wilderness and a giant, benevolent bird rescued him and became his guardian angel. This tale thrilled me; I've always wanted to write about it.” GivingWritingStoriesWantedMovingDiesLeftBirdAngelAccountsOriginalsTalesGiantsWildernessOddsInfantGuardianBenevolentGuardian AngelVery Moving Author:Porochista Khakpour
“My interest, perhaps, came out of the trauma of being a young immigrant in this country and constantly feeling my "resident alien" status. I remember trying to learn English on kindergarten playgrounds. I tried hard to be a convincing American but it was a losing battle. I was labeled weird and that tag never left me - all through high school, I was always the oddball. It was not always an easy path - I just had to tell myself that one day, being on the periphery would become an asset (and I think it finally has, as a creative adult).” ThinkingTryingCountryHardFeelingsSchoolRememberYoungLeftEasyInterestCreativePathBattleOne DayLosingHigh SchoolAdultsTraumaAliensImmigrantsAssetsConvincingTagPlaygroundsResidentsKindergartenPeripheryOddballs Author:Porochista Khakpour