I keep one simple rule that I only move in one direction - I write the book straight through from beginning to end. By following time's arrow, I keep myself sane.

Quote by Jonathan Lethem

Topics: Jonathan Lethem Quotes

I grew up with an artist father, and my parents' friends were also mainly artists...

I grew up with an artist father, and my parents' friends were also mainly artists...

I work on a laptop specifically so I can work in cafes and pretend I'm...

I work on a laptop specifically so I can work in cafes and pretend I'm...

My fiction has been influenced by the visual arts, though not in obvious ways, it...

My fiction has been influenced by the visual arts, though not in obvious ways, it...

What's lucky about my career in general is that I stumbled into what every writer...

What's lucky about my career in general is that I stumbled into what every writer...

Fantastic writing in English is kind of disreputable, but fantastic writing in translation is the...

Fantastic writing in English is kind of disreputable, but fantastic writing in translation is the...

It's now expected of me that I will defy expectation, so I really generally seem...

It's now expected of me that I will defy expectation, so I really generally seem...

I plan less and less. It's a great benefit of writing lots, that you get...

I plan less and less. It's a great benefit of writing lots, that you get...

I learned to write fiction the way I learned to read fiction - by skipping...

I learned to write fiction the way I learned to read fiction - by skipping...

It was only as I wrote about it that I began to find paths of...

It was only as I wrote about it that I began to find paths of...

I've had the odd good luck of starting slowly and building gradually, something few writers...

I've had the odd good luck of starting slowly and building gradually, something few writers...

I've never related to the work geek at all-it sounds much more horrible than nerd....

I've never related to the work geek at all-it sounds much more horrible than nerd....

I'd have been a filmmaker or a cartoonist or something else which extended from the...

I'd have been a filmmaker or a cartoonist or something else which extended from the...

Discomfort is very much part of my master plan.

Discomfort is very much part of my master plan.

The book is openly a kind of spiritual autobiography, but the trick is that on...

The book is openly a kind of spiritual autobiography, but the trick is that on...

When the civil rights battle was won, all the Jews and hippies and artists were...

When the civil rights battle was won, all the Jews and hippies and artists were...

The arts and a belief in the values of the civil rights movement, in the...

The arts and a belief in the values of the civil rights movement, in the...

I got into underground comics fairly early on and kind of wandered away from the...

I got into underground comics fairly early on and kind of wandered away from the...

I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull.

I can't bear the silent ringing in my skull.

The past is still visible. The buildings haven't changed, the layout of the streets hasn't...

The past is still visible. The buildings haven't changed, the layout of the streets hasn't...

I don't paint anymore. I haven't since I abandoned it at 19, in order to...

I don't paint anymore. I haven't since I abandoned it at 19, in order to...