Structural dissatisfaction: Returning to circumstances that once pleased you, after having experienced a more thrilling or opulent way of life, and f…

- Jennifer Egan

That adage about 'Write what you know' is basically the opposite of the way I function. I write about what I'm curious to find out.

- Jennifer Egan

I haven’t had trouble with writer’s block. I think it’s because my process involves writing very badly. My first drafts are filled with lurching, cli…

- Jennifer Egan

Be willing and unafraid to write badly, because often the bad stuff...forms a base on which to build something better.

- Jennifer Egan

I don’t want to fade away, I want to flame away - I want my death to be an attraction, a spectacle, a mystery. A work of art.

- Jennifer Egan

Sure, everything is ending," Jules said, "but not yet.

- Jennifer Egan

I'm always happy," Sasha said. "Sometimes I just forget.

- Jennifer Egan

Reading is the nourishment that lets you do interesting work.

- Jennifer Egan

The bottom line is that I like my first drafts to be blind, unconscious, messy efforts; that's what gets me the best material.

- Jennifer Egan