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I thought I might write mysteries for the rest of my life.

Jane Smiley

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Jane Smiley
Age: 75
Born: 1949
Born: January 1
Journalist
Literary Critic
Novelist
Screenwriter
Writer
LA
California
Jane Graves Smiley
Mysteries
Mystery
Rest
Write
Thought
Might
Writing
Life

More quotes by Jane Smiley

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Even if my marriage is falling apart and my children are unhappy, there is still a part of me that says, 'God, this is fascinating!'
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Men are competent in groups that mimic the playground, incompetent in groups that mimic the family
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Hungry ears are sharp ones.
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I love to write about sex. You just have to make it idiosyncratic. You have to have a strong comprehension of your characters, and write it from their point of view. It's really fun. It's not erotic.
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Well, in fact everybody - everybody - in the entire nation has enough stuff in their life to write about that's interesting that they could write their autobiography. And in the end that's why I find people interesting.
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I was asked by an editor to consider writing something about an American inventor. I asked him if he knew who invented the computer. He said he didn't. In that case, I told him, I should write a book about John Vincent Atanasoff.
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Candy is my fuel. Ice cream, too.
Jane Smiley
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In every society, the artists will be the ones who set themselves up as contrary to whatever the society expects.
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English majors understand human nature better than economists do.
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Good intentions are wicked! As far as I can see, all they lead to are lies and delusions.
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Mom was a smoker. My grandfather was a smoker. My aunts were smokers. My uncles were smokers. I don't know any smokers now, not even my mom.
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All equestrians, if they last long enough, learn that riding in whatever form is a lifelong sport and art, an endeavor that is both familiar and new every time you take the horse out of his stall or pasture.
Jane Smiley
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I spent part of my college years in a Marxist commune. I was not a Marxist. I wasn't even pretending to be one. I was a Marxist-in-law.
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I think that the Cold War was an exceptional and unnecessary piece of cruelty.
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A novelist is on the cusp between someone who knows everything and someone who knows nothing.
Jane Smiley
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A love story, at least a convincing one, requires three elements - the lover, the beloved, and the adventures they have together.
Jane Smiley
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Writing novels is an essentially amateur activity.
Jane Smiley
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There are several methods for introducing your children to driving, and all of them are bad. Probably the worst is to put it off.
Jane Smiley
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Eavesdrop and write it down from memory - gives you a stronger sense of how people talk and what their concerns are. I love to eavesdrop!
Jane Smiley
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Not every novel that wants to be a tragedy gets to be one.
Jane Smiley