Jami Attenberg Quotes
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I don't think there's any topic a writer should feel afraid of tackling just because it has already been discussed. If you feel you have a fresh perspective and an understanding of a certain emotional truth, it's always worth writing.
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As creative people, we should be really conscious of being of service in our work, being as generous as we can.
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People are branded as either 'fat' or 'skinny' from an early age. You sort of never shake it, even if you end up losing weight.
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In 1998, I started a blog, something I could control very easily and update at my own whim.
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Food and love are all intertwined at our core level. It can be a very nurturing, wonderful, loving thing.
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When I was growing up in Chicago, my family and I used to go to a local chain, Hackney's, for burgers and their French fried onion loaf. I probably haven't been to one in 25 years, and yet, I once saw Donald Trump from behind in an office building and the first thing that flashed in my mind was his hair looked like that onion loaf.
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For years I'd thought my color was black: deep, dark, thoughtful, mysterious. Black, you can hide behind. But now I know it is red.
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No matter how much money I made from writing, I'd keep the bookstore job.
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I know the bestseller 'Gone Girl' doesn't need an ounce of support from me, but that book was as sharp and witty as they come.
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I don't know much about any of the Hasidim because the men won't talk to me because I'm a woman, and the women won't talk to me because, while I am Jewish, I'm not Hasidic.
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No matter how many feminist tracts you read, you never forget what boys like.
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Cooking skills aside, my mother is an exceptional nurturer.
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I'm from the Midwest. We like to know who our neighbors are.
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I didn't go to graduate school, where all the important writers seemed to be getting their start. I didn't pursue getting published in literary magazines. I didn't even send out countless pitch letters and manuscripts to agents.
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Maybe just as many women writers as male writers could be billed as the next great American writer by their publisher. Maybe book criticism sections could review an equal amount of female and male writers. Maybe Oprah could start putting some books by women authors in her book club, since most of her audience is women.
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I think it's nearly impossible to write something fictional without having it be about yourself in some way or another.
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When does an object become a symbol? All I know is you cannot force it.
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Most of my writer friends are women, and they're all extremely talented, so of course I think the state of contemporary fiction for women is pretty great. Which is to say there is a ton of amazing work out there. These women are writing hard. There's much to be said. We're on it, chief.
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I'm not really interested in writing or reading about people who are nice and easy. I like the problem children.
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I know I have a problem with semi-colon abuse and have written page-long sentences. Nobody needs to be reading page-long sentences, at least not written by me.
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Young adult novels don't shy away from the discussion of weight issues, and 'Blubber,' the tale of an overweight, not-so-sympathetic fifth-grader bullied by her peers, is a refreshing take.
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My parents are still married. They don't weigh 350 pounds; they go to the gym all the time.
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I feel a bigger sense of fulfillment when writing a novel, and short stories are more about instant gratification.
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I don't know if I had ever found my place in the world until I fully committed to being a writer.