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

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...

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...

If a book is really good, it deserves to be read again, and if it's...

If a book is really good, it deserves to be read again, and if it's...

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...

The epic implications of being human end in more than this: We start our lives...

The epic implications of being human end in more than this: We start our lives...

There is something about seeing real people on a stage that makes a bad play...

There is something about seeing real people on a stage that makes a bad play...

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...

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...

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

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

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.

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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.

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...