I realized the structure in a collection is how they're put together. Structuring the collection became the art of it for me. Because the stories had…

- Jess Walter

I think so, too. I know I felt that way. For years. It was as if I was a character in a movie and the real action was about to start at any minute. B…

- Jess Walter

A writer needs four things to achieve greatness, Pasquale: desire, disappointment, and the sea.” “That’s only three.” Alvis finished his wine. “You h…

- Jess Walter

There are only two good outcomes for a quest like this, the hope of the serendipitous savant — sail for Asia and stumble on America — and the hope of…

- Jess Walter

Stories are people. I'm a story, you're a story ... your father is a story. Our stories go in every direction, but sometimes, if we're lucky, our sto…

- Jess Walter

I don't know a family that isn't touched by some sort of addiction.

- Jess Walter

Sometimes what we want to do and what we must do are not the same. Pasquo, the smaller the space between your desire and what is right, the happier y…

- Jess Walter

He found himself in habiting the vast, empty plateau where most people live, between boredom and contentment.

- Jess Walter

I wake at 5 or 5:30 most mornings, make myself a latte and grab a cookie, write until 10 or 11, go have my favorite meal, 'second breakfast,' or grab…

- Jess Walter