Ann Patchett Quotes

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Ann Patchett

Profession : Author

Birth : December 2, 1963

Well, I always say that the two things I was most disastrous at in my life, being a teenager and being a wife, were the two things I really wound up cashing in on when I was writing fluffy magazine pieces.

Ann Patchett

I was very influenced by The Magic Mountain. It's a book that had a huge impact on me. I loved that as a shape for a novel: put a bunch of people in a beautiful place, give them all tuberculosis, make them all stay in a fur sleeping bag for several years and see what happens.

Ann Patchett

You see an absolutely brilliant film later, as an adult, and you walk out thinking about what to have for dinner. Whereas something like Jaws winds up having a huge effect on me. If only my parents had been taking me to Kurosawa films when I was eight, but no.

Ann Patchett

My father was a police officer in Los Angeles.

Ann Patchett

Write because you love the art and the discipline, not because you're looking to sell something.

Ann Patchett

I have been accused of being a Pollyanna, but I think there are plenty of people dealing with the darker side of human nature, and if I am going to write about people who are kind and generous and loving and thoughtful, so what?

Ann Patchett

Anyone who doesn't read doesn't have any business writing.

Ann Patchett

I've never had a terrible job. I've been a cook, waitress, bookseller, teacher, freelance writer. I know what the bad jobs are, and I haven't done them.

Ann Patchett

I had a real computer solitaire problem. I'd gotten to the point where I had to win a game before I could write, and each time I got up to get a cup of water, I had to win a game. It was a nightmare.

Ann Patchett

I'd like to read all of Proust.

Ann Patchett

In my life, I have met astonishingly good people.

Ann Patchett

I can write for any magazine now, in any voice. I can do it in two hours, I could do it in my sleep, it's like writing a grocery list.

Ann Patchett

You learn every time you write a book, and then you take that new knowledge and experience into the next book. Hopefully, every time, you raise the bar.

Ann Patchett

I'm disappointed by well-written novels that only deal with two or three people.

Ann Patchett

My degree of closeness to my step-siblings varies among the seven, but I have a great sense of loyalty to all of them, especially the four from my childhood. If those people needed my help, I would be there for them.

Ann Patchett

I don't really cry.

Ann Patchett

I think people become consumed with selling a book when they need to be consumed with writing it.

Ann Patchett

The '70s were a different time as far as parenting was concerned. People left their kids in the car with the windows cracked while they went to the grocery store.

Ann Patchett

People gave me such a bad time about wanting a baby. I didn't want a baby, and I still don't. I wanted a dog.

Ann Patchett

I believe I can solve others' problems. It's great when it works, but for the most part, it's very unappealing.

Ann Patchett