“My novels are certainly more exciting than my own life.” My OwnNovelExcitingMy Own Life Author:Tom Perrotta
“My wife and I left New York when she got pregnant - we just thought it would be really hard to stay in the city.” HardWould BeLeftCitiesWifeNew YorkMy WifePregnant Author:Tom Perrotta
“When I was writing 'The Abstinence Teacher,' I really tried to immerse myself in contemporary American evangelical culture.” WritingCultureTeacherContemporaryEvangelicalAbstinence Author:Tom Perrotta
“When things don't go well, it helps to think of yourself as a genius and the rest of the world as a bunch of idiots.” ThinkingWorldWellsHelpingGeniusBunchIdiotThink Of You Author:Tom Perrotta
“A screenwriter heard me read from my novel 'The Wishbones' when it was still in progress and mentioned me to some producers in Hollywood. They called, and I told them I had a novel in my drawer about a high school election that goes haywire. They asked to take a look, and my life changed pretty dramatically as a result.” LooksStillsSchoolResultsNovelProgressHeardChangedHigh SchoolHollywoodElectionProducersLife ChangingScreenwritersDrawersWishbones Author:Tom Perrotta
“I did a lot of reading of the Bible and became fascinated with the idea of the Rapture. It's pretty wild. I hadn't heard of it until I was in college.” IdeasReadingHeardCollegeFascinatedRapture Author:Tom Perrotta
“I read 'The Great Gatsby' in high school and was hypnotized by the beauty of the sentences and moved by the story about the irrevocability of lost love.” StoriesSchoolLostHigh SchoolMovedSentencesLost Love Author:Tom Perrotta
“I think I'm fascinated by the power of religion in our culture. Like a lot of secular, liberal people, I ignored it for a long time. Lately, of course, just from a political perspective, it's impossible to ignore.” PeopleThinkingLongPoliticalCultureCoursesImpossiblePerspectiveLong TimeFascinatedSecularIgnored Author:Tom Perrotta
“I was writing very early, like I was involved in our high school literary magazine, which was called 'Pariah.' The football team was the Bears, and the literary magazine was 'Pariah.' It was great. It was definitely a real sub-culture. But I wrote stories for them.” WritingRealStoriesSchoolCultureTeamFootballBearsInvolvedHigh SchoolMagazinesFootball TeamPariahs Author:Tom Perrotta
“I'm not sure that it's possible to write a novel about people who don't transgress or stumble, people who don't surprise themselves with the things they do, people who can explain all their actions with perfect logical consistency. At least it's not possible for me to write that sort of novel.” PeopleWritingActionPerfectNovelSurpriseNot SureLogicalConsistency Author:Tom Perrotta