There's a lot of phones; but I'm out of that field. They make me feel like a prisoner of war; there's not going to be any texting for me. The pre-pai…

- Padgett Powell

It's hard to say conversation has become a minimal thing, because look at the rise of mobile communications in the last 10 years. It used to be only …

- Padgett Powell

I knew I was supposed to be a writer; I had made that declaration in the closet of my soul.

- Padgett Powell

Life is a sandwich of activity between two periods of bed-wetting.

- Padgett Powell

I've had an addiction for a long time to the whole business of maximizing one's potential, what I call human activation. The vehicle for actualizing …

- Padgett Powell

Writing books is a nice retreat. There's nothing quite like diving into a book for a few hours. That is a big time vacation.

- Padgett Powell

Is a gesture of charity genuine or is it a kind of deep moral tax write-off?

- Padgett Powell

Even if you're the worst writer in the world, at least you'll have the evidence.

- Padgett Powell

Notable American Women is a weird nougat of a book that suggests Coetzee, Kafka, Beckett, Barthelme, O'Brien, Orwell, Paley, Borges-and none of them …

- Padgett Powell