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

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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

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

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...

Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city.

Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city.

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...

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...

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.

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 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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...