Explore Essays and memoir
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Medtner
Philip Pullman
‘It feels like being a child in a room where adults are having a deep and passionate conversation about important things’
When Skateboards Will Be Free
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
‘My mother and father believe that the United States is destined one day to be engulfed in a socialist revolution.’
Ann Beattie | First Sentence
Ann Beattie
‘Several times I’ve wanted to title something one thing, but have realized or been persuaded it isn’t a good idea.’
Footplacers, London Transport, Owls, Wincer-Boise
Russell Hoban
‘All those footsteps have been gathered up into the footplacer, all those goings are gone.’
An Education
Lynn Barber
‘The whole meeting seemed completely unreal but then everything at that time seemed unreal, so I said ‘Yes, by all means make the film,’ and went back to the hospital and forgot about her.’
My Father’s Life
Leonard Michaels
‘Six days a week he rose early, dressed, ate breakfast alone, put on his hat, and walked to his barbershop at 207 Henry Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, about half a mile from our apartment.’
Essex
Norman Lewis
‘Essex is the ugliest county. I only went there to be able to work in peace and quiet and get away from the settlers from London south of the river.’
Other Women
Francine Prose
‘Feminism is as basic to my sense of self as the fact that I have brown eyes.’
People Don’t Get Depressed in Nigeria
Ike Anya
‘He has come to us against the wishes of his family and the village and I feel that I owe him something.’
