‘I went through a period of several years when everything I touched turned to failure.’
In my late twenties and early thirties, I went through a period of several years when everything I touched turned to failure. My marriage ended in divorce, my work as a writer foundered, and I was overwhelmed by money problems. I’m not just talking about an occasional shortfall or some periodic be…
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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.
Paul Auster in conversation about existential doubt, where he finds his inspiration, and the writing of his longest novel to date, 4 3 2 1.
‘According to family legend, Ferguson’s grandfather departed on foot from his native city of Minsk with one hundred rubles sewn into the lining of his jacket’
An extract from 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster.
‘You can’t remember the precise moment when you understood that you were a Jew.’
An essay by Paul Auster.
Don DeLillo and Paul Auster discuss their work in Granta 117: Horror, ‘impoverished characters’ and living in and writing about New York.
‘For the first time in all the years you had known her, she sounded deranged.’
In the not-so-distant future, middle-class underachievers are faced with a difficult choice: prison or motivational business classes.
