James Salter Quotes

I haven't been the kind of writer about whom book-length academic studies have been written.

The bewildering success of my books continues to surprise me.

One man is as good as another until he has written a book.

I didn't like being a name attached to a book.

Being a best-selling author doesn't make you a millionaire. It's not like Stephen King.

When I pick up a book that's, you know, wreathed in laurels, I expect a lot, and that doesn't give the book its best chance to shine.

It's a strange failure of the literary world that Updike never quite received his due. Despite winning two Pulitzers and two National Book Awards and countless other awards and honours, he was denied the Nobel.

'Fallen Too Far' was my first NYT bestseller. That changed my life.

My first novel was a critical success in a matter of weeks.

I don't aspire at present to be king of the hill in American literature.

I'm very lucky. I'm very fortunate that my books have never gone out of print - none of them.

When 'The Shadow of the Wind' became a success I had already been a working writer, I'd been through the ups and downs, I'd seen how it worked.

I'm a writer. I never expected to be recognised on the street. I never expected to get that kind of coverage, good or bad. I never expected to sell as many books as I have.

The Room I wrote in 1957, and I was really gratified to find that it stood up. I didn't have to change a word.

I didn't care where my works were published.

There are writers who go their whole lives and never hit that No. 1 spot.

You have to go into rehab after doing a David Walliams book. David is such an important man; publishers rate him very, very highly, His books usually go straight to the bestseller number one spot on the day of publication. He is a hugely important writer as far as HarperCollins, his publishers, are concerned.

Authors should be honored only for their works.

I didn't make 'The New York Times' bestseller list until 'Charmed Thirds,' and then again for 'Fourth Comings.' It gave me a certain validation, and it certainly helps position me for future books, but it's not something I think about on a daily basis.

People aren't quite sure what it means when a book is a Booker Prize winner. They're not quite sure what is being recommended, what literary values it stands for, because every year it stands for something different.

I've been very lucky with prizes. But the thing about prizes is that, when you talk about a prize-winning author, you can be talking about one that is well-regarded but doesn't sell any books.

Many readers know my work first through 'Housekeeping,' simply because it was my only novel for a pretty long time.

I'm like a unicorn; I'm a midlist writer who hasn't done anything else but write. But because I wasn't amazingly famous, I didn't become Stephanie Meyer, or even a huge literary name like a Jonathan Franzen or a Joshua Ferris.

It's not as if I've been unlucky. My books have been published and reviewed. I haven't lived through terrible literary suffering!

I never set out to become 'famous.' I mean, when you're 14 you think 'I'm gonna become a writer and people will want my autograph and that'll be cool,' but you grow up and you learn that's just not how the world works. I resigned myself to the fact that I would probably never be published and if I did it probably wouldn't be a big deal.