Trying to imagine E. M. Forster, who found Ulysses indecorous, at a London performance of Lenny Bruce—to which in fact he was once taken. Trying to i…

- David Markson

Is T.S. Eliot the only poet one can think of who could have spent a year on his own in Paris at twenty-three—and managed to have no sexual encounter …

- David Markson

Can Protagonist think of a single film that interests him as much as the three-hundredth best book he ever read?

- David Markson

The morning’s recollection of the emptiness of the day before. Its anticipation of the emptiness of the day to come.

- David Markson

In fact one frequently seemed to gather all sorts of similar information about subjects one had less than profound interest in.

- David Markson

I also believe I met William Gaddis once. He did not look Italian.

- David Markson

You can learn more by going to the opera than you ever can by reading Emerson. Like that there are two sexes.

- David Markson

Once, somebody asked Robert Schumann to explain the meaning of a certain piece of music he had just played on the piano. What Robert Schumann did wa…

- David Markson

Once, Turner had himself lashed to the mast of a ship for several hours, during a furious storm, so that he could later paint the storm. Obviously, i…

- David Markson