Jami Attenberg Quotes

I know I have a problem with semi-colon abuse and have written page-long sentences. Nobody needs to be reading page-long sentences, at least not written by me.

Some journal writers choose to password-protect their site, which is either an incredibly responsible act or a paranoid one.

I wrote a novel. It’s called ‘The Middlesteins.’ It’s fiction. It’s not a memoir. I’m not a spokesperson.

It’s the differences in people that help you realize who you are. Even if we silently pass each other on the street.

I didn’t go to graduate school, where all the important writers seemed to be getting their start. I didn’t pursue getting published in literary magazines. I didn’t even send out countless pitch letters and manuscripts to agents.

I feel a bigger sense of fulfillment when writing a novel, and short stories are more about instant gratification.

People are branded as either ‘fat‘ or ‘skinny‘ from an early age. You sort of never shake it, even if you end up losing weight.

When we are young – or even 32 – we often say ‘yes‘ to everything because we’re worried that we won’t know what we’ll like if we don’t try it.

There’s something to be said for an author who clearly respects a reader.

My love can be easily bought with a steak from Peter Luger’s.

In 1998, I started a blog, something I could control very easily and update at my own whim.

I check my phone first thing when I wake up in the morning. I usually take it up with me to bed so it’s on the floor next to the bed, although not actually in bed with me, because I really do not want to be the person who sleeps with their phone.

Do you often find yourself uttering the phrase, ‘I feel like I should go?’ You do not need to go. You are busy that night. You are busy every night, forever.

I’m a really selfish person. But I would do anything for my friends.

I don’t know much about any of the Hasidim because the men won’t talk to me because I’m a woman, and the women won’t talk to me because, while I am Jewish, I’m not Hasidic.

For years I’d thought my color was black: deep, dark, thoughtful, mysterious. Black, you can hide behind. But now I know it is red.

I kind of want to be seen as an American writer, not just a New York writer.

Social media can connect you with other people in so many wonderful ways – but it can also make you really sick of yourself.

I think it’s nearly impossible to write something fictional without having it be about yourself in some way or another.

I can act like a boy as much as I want, but when I wake up in the morning, I’m still a woman.

Cooking skills aside, my mother is an exceptional nurturer.

It should be said upfront that I totally dig people who work in bookstores and libraries. They love books, and I love books, and that is all I really need to know. If they are friendly to me, then we are clearly soul mates.

Listen: I’m OK cute. I’m no stunner.

We’ve all got flesh. I’ve just got a little more.

I think when you first start out, you’re writing books that are about your immediate place.

I won’t go anywhere near the new Times Square. It’s seizure-inducing.

It’s good to pass on stories.

I always tell people this when they’re looking for an agent – they should love your work. You are entitled to work with someone who believes in you. Why do business with someone who is ambivalent about you and your art?

My grandmother died when my mother was just 11 years old, and consequently, my mother never learned how to cook particularly well.

When does an object become a symbol? All I know is you cannot force it.

Young adult novels don’t shy away from the discussion of weight issues, and ‘Blubber,’ the tale of an overweight, not-so-sympathetic fifth-grader bullied by her peers, is a refreshing take.

I’m from the Midwest. We like to know who our neighbors are.

I have watched Occupy Wall Street mostly from the sidelines.

In addition to public housing, South Williamsburg is home to shabby artists‘ lofts like mine, apartments of Hasidic Jews, and one extremely tall, high-priced condo.

I find that short stories are almost like palate cleansers or brain cleansers.

Anything by Lorrie Moore speaks to a certain kind of person.

I am not one of those people who string their exes along. Instead, I run and hide: under the covers, behind my computer screen, on opposite coasts of the country.

In the wintertime I like macaroni and cheese.

I make up stories about people who are either imaginary or some variation of myself.

I don’t think there’s any topic a writer should feel afraid of tackling just because it has already been discussed. If you feel you have a fresh perspective and an understanding of a certain emotional truth, it’s always worth writing.

I’m pretty pro-food.

The interesting thing about overeating or being obese is there’s this physical manifestation of it.

I was fat because my parents were a little fat themselves at that point in their lives, and I ate what they ate.

Many online journals get the most hits of the day during the lunch hour.