I'd have been a filmmaker or a cartoonist or something else which extended from the visual arts into the making of narratives if I hadn't been able to shift into fiction.

Quote by Jonathan Lethem

Topics: Jonathan Lethem Quotes

I just noticed recently that in one book after another I seem to find an...

I just noticed recently that in one book after another I seem to find an...

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 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...

Nerds are just deep, and neurotic, fans. Needy fans. We're all nerds, on one subject...

Nerds are just deep, and neurotic, fans. Needy fans. We're all nerds, on one subject...

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...

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...

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 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...

The more film I watch, the more John Ford looks like a giant. His politics...

The more film I watch, the more John Ford looks like a giant. His politics...

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...

Comics? Honestly, that's more a matter of nostalgia for me. I think most of that...

Comics? Honestly, that's more a matter of nostalgia for me. I think most of that...

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...

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...

In my third novel there is an actual black hole that swallows everything you love.

In my third novel there is an actual black hole that swallows everything you love.

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...

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...

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 had always wanted to be a writer who confused genre boundaries and who was...

I had always wanted to be a writer who confused genre boundaries and who was...

I'd excluded New York from my writing, and then I came back and I fell...

I'd excluded New York from my writing, and then I came back and I fell...

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...