“The critic lives at second hand. He writes about. The poem, the novel, or the play must be given to him; criticism exists by the grace of other men's genius.” MenWritingPlayHandsGivenNovelGraceGeniusCriticismCriticsSecond Hand Book:Language and Silence Source: Language and Silence
“The usual criticism of a novel about an artist is that, no matter how real he is as a man, he is not real to us as an artist, since we have to take on trust the works of art he produces.” MenArtRealMatterArtistNovelProduceCriticismWorks Of ArtUsual Author:Randall Jarrell
“A hilarious academic novel that'll send you laughing (albeit ruefully) back into the trenches of the classroom. . . . [A] mordant minor masterpiece. . . . Like the best works of farce, academic or otherwise, Dear Committee Members deftly mixes comedy with social criticism and righteous outrage. By the end, you may well find yourself laughing so hard it hurts.” WellsMayEndsHardSocialHurtNovelLaughingComedyMembersCriticismDearFinding YourselfAcademicClassroomRighteousMinorsCommitteesIt HurtsMasterpieceOutrageBest WorkTrenchesFarceLaughing So Hard Author:Maureen Corrigan
“A bad short story or novel or poem leaves one comparatively calm because it does not exist, unless it gets a fake prestige throughbeing mistaken for good work. It is essentially negative, it is something that has not come through. But over bad criticism one has a sense of real calamity.” DoeRealStoriesFictionNovelNegativeCriticismCalmFakeWorking ItShort StoryGood WorkMistakenCalamityPrestigeLiterary Criticism Book:The Strange Necessity: Essays and Reviews Source: The Strange Necessity: Essays and Reviews
“You don't market-research a novel; you really are writing it for yourself. It's a hobby, in many ways. The problem becomes what you do when you're confronted by criticism. You just don't listen to it.” WayWritingProblemNovelResearchCriticismHobbiesMarket Research Author:Bret Easton Ellis
“I got a rejection letter from an editor at HarperCollins, who included a report from his professional reader. This report shredded my first-born novel, laughed at my phrasing, twirled my lacy pretensions around and gobbed into the seething mosh pit of my stolen clichés. As I read the report, the world became very quiet and stopped rotating. What poisoned me was the fact that the report's criticisms were all absolutely true. The sound of my landlady digging in the garden got the world moving again. I slipped the letter into the trash... knowing I'd remember every word.” WorldWritingFirstsFactsRememberMovingSoundBornNovelKnowingReaderQuietGardenCriticismLettersRejectionReportsEditorsLaughedStolenTrashPitsDiggingPretensionSeethingRotatingRejection Letters Author:David Mitchell
“Experiments with the "as if" of fiction are often more lively in poetry and criticism and other modes of writing than in weak short stories or novels.” IfsWritingStoriesFictionNovelCriticismWeakExperimentsShort StoryLively Author:Ben Lerner
“The nonfiction novel or literary memoir as authored by women is usually given a much harder time in mainstream criticism.” GivenNovelCriticismHarderMemoirNonfictionMainstream Author:Kate Zambreno