Home / Quotes / Quote by John D'Agata

Quote by John D'Agata

“For a while I just couldn't imagine that there was a place for me in nonfiction. I looked around at what we were calling nonfiction and I thought, "Maybe you do have to go to poetry in order to do this other weird thing in nonfiction."”

Quote by John D'Agata

Author

John D'Agata is an American essayist known for his distinctive writing style and profound insights into the reality of the world. His works often explore the edges and limits of human existence, as well as the boundaries between language and truth. more

You May Also Like

“That to me was one of the most exciting, and weird puzzles of this book: how are the most religious people and the least religious people of their time all drawn to very similar visions of utopia?”

People Book Religious Vision Exciting Puzzles Utopia

Author:Christine Jennings

“Atheist isn't really the right word because they tended to believe in some sort of Enlightenment, capital 'N' Nature kind of god. But these were people who in their times were criticized as infidels.”

People Believe Kind Enlightenment Atheist Right Words Infidel

Author:Christine Jennings

“The religious and irreligious are agreeing with each other almost all the time. Their rhetoric is the same, and their plans are the same. Through slightly different interpretations, they all think the same thing is going to happen, that the Earth is going to be perfected and that humans are going to do the work of perfecting it.”

Thinking Humans Different Happens Earth Religious Plans Interpretation Rhetoric Different Interpretations

Author:Christine Jennings

“Yet there are some critics in the nonfiction world who still look at some of today's stranger interpretations of the essay and say "You don't belong here. That's not how we do things." I think that's problematic.”

Thinking World Looks Stills Today Critics Stranger Interpretation Nonfiction Essays

Author:John D'Agata

“Some people think God is going to guide those humans. The Oneida community and the Shakers both believed that they had received revelations about how to build the New Jerusalem that the Bible says is coming”

People Thinking Humans Community Guides Revelations Jerusalem Shakers

Author:Christine Jennings

“I would ask the people who were generous toward my own work. After class one day a poetry professor said to me, "Hey, there's this guy Basho you would find interesting," and so I found Basho. A fiction teacher told me, "You ought to read Clarice Lispector if you're interested in that sort of in-between stuff," and then Lispector appeared. It's not magic. You just keep your eyes open.”

People Ifs Said Eye Guy Asks Found Stuff My Own Interesting Fiction Class Teacher Magic Ought One Day Hey Generous Professors This Guy

Author:John D'Agata

“The secular utopians basically said the exact same thing, they just took the Bible out of the equation. The religious and the secular groups recognized each other as fellow travellers. They exchanged newsletters and asked each other questions like, "What's a good soup pot to use if you're making dinner for 800 people?" They had these practical connections.”

People Ifs Said Use Religious Groups Connections Fellows Dinner Practicals Pot Secular Soup Equations Traveller Newsletters

Author:Christine Jennings

“There are two instances I studied in which a community moved, amazingly, into an preexisting village built by other, earlier communalists. The Rappites were a German millenarian sect I mostly leave out of the story, even though they are fascinating, because they're focused on salvation and retreating from the world, as opposed to transforming it, like the other groups I write about.”

World Writing Two Stories Community Groups Built Moved Salvation Focused Instance Fascinating Village Transforming Sects

Author:Christine Jennings

“They [Rappites] were moving from Southern Indiana to Pennsylvania, where they had originally settled when they came from Germany. They were looking for someone who wanted to buy a pre-built town, which wouldn't have been appropriate for any kind of normal settlement. That's when Robert Owen [Welsh industrialist and utopian socialist] buys the village and founds New Harmony.”

Kind Has Beens Wanted Moving Found Normal Built Towns Harmony Germany Appropriate Village Southern Socialist Settlement Utopian Indiana Pennsylvania Welsh

Author:Christine Jennings

“It's fun to just skim through piles of books in the stacks of a library.”

Book Fun Library

Author:John D'Agata