Quotes by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler

American novelist and short story writer

Lived from: 1941 -

Category: Writers (Contemporary) Country: FlagUnited States

Born: 25 october 1941

  • I've always thought a hotel ought to offer optional small animals. I mean a cat to sleep on your bed at night, or a dog of some kind to act pleased when you come in. You ever notice how a hotel room feels so lifeless?
  • I consciously try to end my novels at a point where I won't have to wonder about my characters ever again.
  • Time, in general, has always been a central obsession of mine - what it does to people, how it can constitute a plot all on its own. So naturally, I am interested in old age.
  • I do write long, long character notes - family background, history, details of appearance - much more than will ever appear in the novel. I think this is what lifts a book from that early calculated, artificial stage.
  • I'll write maybe one long paragraph describing the events, then a page or two breaking the events into chapters, and then reams of pages delving into my characters. After that, I'm ready to begin.
  • I forget a book as soon as I finish writing it, which is not always a good thing.
  • In real life I avoid all parties altogether, but on paper I can mingle with the best of them.
  • I think it must be very hard to be one of the new young writers who are urged to put themselves forward when it may be the last thing on earth they'd be good at.
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Quotes 1 till 20 of 39.

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  • I've always thought a hotel ought to offer optional small animals. I mean a cat to sleep on your bed at night, or a dog of some kind to act pleased when you come in. You ever notice how a hotel room feels so lifeless?
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  • And I am interested in the fact that class is very much a factor in America, even though it's not supposed to be.
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  • At most I'll spend three or four hours daily, sometimes less.
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  • But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.
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  • Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
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  • For me, writing something down was the only road out.
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  • For my own family, I would always choose the makeshift, surrogate family formed by various characters unrelated by blood.
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  • I can never tell ahead of time which book will give me trouble - some balk every step of the way, others seem to write themselves - but certainly the mechanics of writing, finding the time and the psychic space, are easier now that my children are grown.
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  • I consciously try to end my novels at a point where I won't have to wonder about my characters ever again.
    ― Anne Tyler
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  • I didn't really choose to write; I more or less fell into it.
    ― Anne Tyler
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  • I do write long, long character notes - family background, history, details of appearance - much more than will ever appear in the novel. I think this is what lifts a book from that early calculated, artificial stage.
    ― Anne Tyler
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  • I don't want to say I hear voices; well, actually I do hear voices, but I don't think it's supernatural. I think it's just that when characters are given enough texture and backbone, then lo and behold, they stand on their own.
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  • I expect that any day now, I will have said all I have to say; I'll have used up all my characters, and then I'll be free to get on with my real life.
    ― Anne Tyler
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  • I forget a book as soon as I finish writing it, which is not always a good thing.
    ― Anne Tyler
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  • I just want to be told a story, and I want to believe I'm living that story, and I don't give a thought to influences or method or any other writerly concerns.
    ― Anne Tyler
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  • I never think about the actual process of writing. I suppose I have a superstition about examining it too closely.
    ― Anne Tyler
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  • I remember leaving the hospital - thinking, 'Wait, are they going to let me just walk off with him? I don't know beans about babies! I don't have a license to do this.' We're just amateurs.
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  • I save the best of myself for novels, and I believe it shows.
    ― Anne Tyler
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  • I spend about a year between novels.
    ― Anne Tyler
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  • I think it must be very hard to be one of the new young writers who are urged to put themselves forward when it may be the last thing on earth they'd be good at.
    ― Anne Tyler
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What are the most famous quotes from Anne Tyler?

The two most famous quotes from Anne Tyler are:

  • "I've always thought a hotel ought to offer optional small animals. I mean a cat to sleep on your bed at night, or a dog of some kind to act pleased when you come in. You ever notice how a hotel room feels so lifeless?"
  • "And I am interested in the fact that class is very much a factor in America, even though it's not supposed to be."

When did Anne Tyler live?

Anne Tyler was born in 1941.