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Sometimes I can better describe a person by another person's reaction. In a story in my first book, I couldn't think of a way to sufficiently describe the charisma of a certain boy, so the narrator says, I knew girls who saved his gum.
Amy Hempel
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Amy Hempel
Age: 72
Born: 1951
Born: December 14
Journalist
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More quotes by Amy Hempel
I have written letters that are failures, but I have written few, I think, that are lies. Trying to reach a person means asking the same question over and over again: Is this the truth, or not? I begin this letter to you, then, in the western tradition. If I understand it, the western tradition is: Put your cards on the table.
Amy Hempel
nothing is ever quite as bad as it could be.
Amy Hempel
The only time the word baby doesn't scare me is the time that it should, when it is what a man calls me.
Amy Hempel
Just once in my life--oh, when have I ever wanted anything just once in my life?
Amy Hempel
It is possible to imagine a person so entirely that the image resists attempts to dislodge it.
Amy Hempel
An idea might spark an essay, but never a story.
Amy Hempel
Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don't get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it's open.
Amy Hempel
For peace of mind, I will lie about any thing at any time.
Amy Hempel
if it's true your life flashes past your eyes before you die, then it is also the truth that your life rushes forth when you are ready to start to truly be alive.
Amy Hempel
Journalism taught me how to write a sentence that would make someone want to read the next one. You are trained to get rid of anything nonessential. You go in, you start writing your article, assuming a person's going to stop reading the minute you give them a reason. So the trick is: don't give them one.
Amy Hempel
The year I began to say vahz instead of vase, a man I barely knew nearly accidentally killed me.
Amy Hempel
I want to know everything about you, so I tell you everything about myself.
Amy Hempel
There’s so much I can’t read because I get so exasperated. Someone starts describing the character boarding the plane and pulling the seat back. And I just want to say, Babe, I have been downtown. I have been up in a plane. Give me some credit.
Amy Hempel
I had a mother I could only seem to please with verbal accomplishments of some sort or another. She read constantly, so I read constantly. If I used words that might have seemed surprising at a young age, she would recognize that and it would please her.
Amy Hempel
I exaggerated even before I began to exaggerate, because it's true — nothing is ever quite as bad as it could be.
Amy Hempel
And I see that not touching for so long was a drive to the beach with the windows rolled up so the waves feel that much colder.
Amy Hempel
Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed.
Amy Hempel
Wear your heart on the page, and people will read to find out how you solved being alive.
Amy Hempel
I'm not first and foremost interested in story and the what-happens, but I'm interested in who's telling it and how they're telling it and the effects of whatever happened on the characters and the people.
Amy Hempel
consolation is a beautiful word. everyone skins his knee-that doesnt make yours hurt anyless.
Amy Hempel