EDITH PEARLMAN

Murder, arson, adultery, drugging and drinking, cruel politics--reading a book crammed with such activities can make the timid and yearning among us feel like the happiest people in the world.

I have a skepticism toward romance. I believe that decency and companionship are, in the long run, more important in life.

I wrote in the cellar for a number of years. I needed a private space, and it had a furnace, so it was always warm.

It's very important for a writer to be unnoticed, as quiet and unnoticed as possible.

I lived around the corner from Saul Bellow.

I think the computer is a hindrance to good writing because it is so tempting to leave what you've written. If you use a typewriter, you must retype if you make a mistake, and thus, you must re-examine every word.

Architecture is undistinguished, sometimes derelict, but occasionally, as in 'Post and Beam,' there is something arresting in a setting... the building behind the Cathedral.

I always loved to read, and I wanted to be part of the project of literature. My physical longevity is due to luck, and my literary longevity is due to my physical longevity.

All the stories I write come from someone I've met or some anecdote I've heard.

I was quite satisfied with my creative life. I've always had reinforcement from a small but devoted readership.

I lived around the corner from Saul Bellow.

I was quite satisfied with my creative life. I've always had reinforcement from a small but devoted readership.

The natural world is often bleak, but the language devoted to it is as careful as needlepoint and prophetic as well.

I always loved to read, and I wanted to be part of the project of literature. My physical longevity is due to luck, and my literary longevity is due to my physical longevity.

I wanted to publish a book simply to be buried with it; that's all I wanted. I had no ambition beyond that.

All the stories I write come from someone I've met or some anecdote I've heard.

Tony Judt's remarkable 'The Memory Chalet' was written from the prison of mute immobility.

I think the computer is a hindrance to good writing because it is so tempting to leave what you've written. If you use a typewriter, you must retype if you make a mistake, and thus, you must re-examine every word.

I know a lot of single people who are not miserable as society tells them they're supposed to be.

The ordinary experiences of aging alter and clarify your view of past, present, and future.

The market town of Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire, was a popular 19th - century English spa. Its mineral springs were supposed to be good for you. This was before the invention of bran. In the 20th century, Cheltenham grew into an active municipality.

I have a skepticism toward romance. I believe that decency and companionship are, in the long run, more important in life.

In the late 1950s, self-esteem hadn't yet been invented. High schools saw their sole mission as preparing students thoroughly for academic work.

There's no rule I want to break or ever wanted to break - I find the conventional life gratifying - as long as I can sit at my typewriter, alone, for half a day.

Architecture is undistinguished, sometimes derelict, but occasionally, as in 'Post and Beam,' there is something arresting in a setting... the building behind the Cathedral.

I wrote in the cellar for a number of years. I needed a private space, and it had a furnace, so it was always warm.

I am slow. A sentence often takes an hour to compose before I throw it out. What can you do?

It's very important for a writer to be unnoticed, as quiet and unnoticed as possible.

Murder, arson, adultery, drugging and drinking, cruel politics--reading a book crammed with such activities can make the timid and yearning among us feel like the happiest people in the world.