‘You might think, who is this, and I might say, this is God, and what are you to do?’
You might think, who is this, and I might say, this is God, and what are you to do? Or I might say, a bird! Or I could tell you, Madame, Monsieur, Sir, Madam, how this name was given to me – I was christened Parrot because my hair was coloured carrot, because my skin was burned to feathers, and wh…
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‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
Peter Carey on Alexis de Tocqueville, writing fiction and the inspiration for his forthcoming novel.
‘I lost my own father at 12 yrs. of age and know what it is to be raised on lies and silences’.
‘We talked about Alison’s blood. We asked her what she thought this mystery could be. Really what we wanted was to be told that everything was OK. There was a look on Alison's face when she asked. I cannot describe it, but it was not a face seeking medical “facts”.’
‘Every time I tried to write more, it turned out to be a fruitless endeavor – I felt like I was trapped in a sealed room with no windows.’
Fiction by Yu Hua, translated by Michael Berry.
‘One did not have high hopes for Gettysburg. Nor for Pennsylvania in general. Having grown up in Indiana, Diana felt she’d earned her condescension.’
Fiction by Jessi Jezewska Stevens.
‘It is not about the author, it is about the place; it is not about perceptions or feelings or thoughts, it is a record of another land, another people, another experience.’
