Reader Recognition Quotes

Too many writers of fiction don't give the reader enough credit.

I appreciate your giving my book -- and in no small way, me -- a chance. To thank you, I really wanted to acknowledge all of you in the book. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough room for each name. So I've put in a code name that stands for all of you reading this book. The name is 'Mom.' It will be our little secret. So when you see 'Mom' in the acknowledgments, you'll know I'm really talking about you. And don't let my mother try to tell you otherwise.

There's a contract that I make between myself, the author, and the reader. I have to figure out how to give the reader certain powers of recognition, or his own knowledge, his own feelings, but I provide them, so we're working together.

One demands two things of a poem. Firstly, it must be a well-made verbal object that does honor to the language in which it is written. Secondly, it must say something significant about a reality common to us all, but perceived from a unique perspective. What the poet says has never been said before, but, once he has said it, his readers recognize its validity for themselves.

I have the most loyal readers in the world.

My books are not generic. You know when you're reading a Joy Fielding book.

Even those who write against fame wish for the fame of having written well, and those who read their works desire the fame of having read them.

What the poet says has never been said before, but, once he has said it, his readers recognize its validity for themselves.

A reader should be able to identify a column without its byline or funny little picture on top purely by look or feel, or its turgidity ratio.

A new reader shouldn't be able to find you in your work, though someone who's read more may begin to.