“My first book, 'The Age of Wire and String,' came out in 1995, and it was hardly reviewed at all.” Quote by Ben Marcus
“My parents showed me by example that they could balance their work and family lives.” ParentExampleBalanceFamily Life Author:Ben Marcus
“I work a lot in the summers. My family goes to Maine, where we have a little house. My wife's a writer, too, and we can write for six hours a day and then play with the kids.” WritingLittlesPlayKidsHouseHoursWifeSixSummerMy FamilyMy WifeMaine Author:Ben Marcus
“I work, and then I leave the office, and I'm with my kids and just sort of enjoy them on a visceral level, and I don't feel like I'm exorcising my own deep ideas about parenthood and about how my life will come into play in my work.” FeelsIdeasPlayKidsEnjoyMy OwnLevelsOfficeParenthoodVisceral Author:Ben Marcus
“I'm an enormous fan of Thomas Bernhard's books, and I like the relentless feeling in his work - the pursuit of darkness, the negative - and I think in some sense I've internalised that as what one is supposed to do.” ThinkingBookFeelingsDarknessFansNegativePursuitEnormousRelentless Author:Ben Marcus
“I'm attracted to how fraught the parent-child relationship is, swerving so easily between love and hostility, with almost no plausible way to end, unless someone dies.” WayChildrenEndsDiesParentHostilityPlausibleParent ChildParent Child Relationship Author:Ben Marcus
“I'm interested in the hope we invest in science, and the disappointment we can feel when science flattens, or 'explains,' the larger mysteries of religion.” FeelsMysteryDisappointment Author:Ben Marcus
“In certain strains of Judaism, there's a profound passion for the ineffable. Contemplation of God is meant to be forever elusive, because, you know, our tiny minds can't possibly comprehend Him. If we find ourselves comprehending Him, then we can be sure we're off track.” IfsKnowsMindCertainPassionForeverProfoundTrackTinyContemplationMeant To BeJudaismStrainElusiveIneffableComprehending Author:Ben Marcus
“In some sense, prose fiction is just a way of unlocking a space. If I can unlock the space, it comes out and it's vivid, I find that I care about it, and it's part of me.” IfsWayI CanCareSpaceFictionProseI CareVividUnlocking Author:Ben Marcus
“It's lonely to listen to the pleasure of others, not that I've made a habit of that kind of eavesdropping. There's joy and passion in the next room, in the next bed, but it's not yours.” KindMadeJoyPassionNextPleasureRoomsHabitBedLonelyEavesdropping Author:Ben Marcus