Ruefulness is one of the classical tones of American fiction. It fosters a native, deglamorized form of anxiety.

Quote by Anatole Broyard

Topics: America And Americans Quotes, Anxiety Quotes, Sorrow Quotes

We are all tourists in history, and irony is what we win in wars.

We are all tourists in history, and irony is what we win in wars.

People have no idea what a hard job it is for two writers to be...

People have no idea what a hard job it is for two writers to be...

It is one of the paradoxes of American literature that our writers are forever looking...

It is one of the paradoxes of American literature that our writers are forever looking...

Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city.

Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city.

The more I like a book, the more slowly I read. this spontaneous talking back...

The more I like a book, the more slowly I read. this spontaneous talking back...

To be misunderstood can be the writer's punishment for having disturbed the reader's peace. The...

To be misunderstood can be the writer's punishment for having disturbed the reader's peace. The...

The first divorce in the world may have been a tragedy, but the hundred-millionth is...

The first divorce in the world may have been a tragedy, but the hundred-millionth is...

Aphorisms are bad for novels. They stick in the reader's teeth.

Aphorisms are bad for novels. They stick in the reader's teeth.

Aphorisms are bad for novels. They stick in the reader's teeth.

Aphorisms are bad for novels. They stick in the reader's teeth.

Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city.

Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city.

His father, Vincent, took him to La Coupole in Paris and, after sitting on the...

His father, Vincent, took him to La Coupole in Paris and, after sitting on the...

A whole generation of writers dined out on the dialectic between original cultures and their...

A whole generation of writers dined out on the dialectic between original cultures and their...

There was a time when we expected nothing of our children but obedience, as opposed...

There was a time when we expected nothing of our children but obedience, as opposed...

Lapped in poetry, wrapped in the picturesque, armed with logical sentences and inalienable words.

Lapped in poetry, wrapped in the picturesque, armed with logical sentences and inalienable words.

The tension between yes and o, between I can and I cannot, makes us feel...

The tension between yes and o, between I can and I cannot, makes us feel...

When friends stop being frank and useful to each other, the whole world loses some...

When friends stop being frank and useful to each other, the whole world loses some...

To be misunderstood can be the writer's punishment for having disturbed the reader's peace. The...

To be misunderstood can be the writer's punishment for having disturbed the reader's peace. The...

That's one thing I like about Hollywood. The writer is there revealed in his ultimate...

That's one thing I like about Hollywood. The writer is there revealed in his ultimate...

They say great themes make great novels.. but what these young writers don't understand is...

They say great themes make great novels.. but what these young writers don't understand is...

They say great themes make great novels.. but what these young writers don't understand is...

They say great themes make great novels.. but what these young writers don't understand is...