A sad person who is so involved with his sadness that he mistakes it for reality will have a hard time seeing himself as anything but sad. For him, the sadness is not a feeling that he experiences – it is him. – Mary Gaitskill
I think a lot of writing, or a lot of young writers, especially, hold themselves back unnecessarily because they’re so upset about the idea that they might be sentimental or so concerned about being criticized that way or even being that way that they just shy away from any strong expression or emotion. – Mary Gaitskill
If anything is scary about my writing, it’s that it’s the product of a very particular vision and doesn’t reference common speech that heavily. By ‘common speech,’ I don’t mean language as much as an agreed-on way of seeing, or a shorthand. – Mary Gaitskill
It’s scary to me to watch the world around us get less and less physical while in the imaginary world of pop culture, aggressive impulses and fear reactions are floridly, furiously stoked and indulged. – Mary Gaitskill
I think it actually started in my late thirties. I started changing psychologically, and it was difficult to translate that into my writing. – Mary Gaitskill
Between my hatred of mall shopping and my mother’s firm ideas about how a girl should dress, my style choices were pretty unenthusiastic: plaid skirts or whatever empire-waisted thingamabob was on sale at Sears. – Mary Gaitskill
One hot summer night in San Francisco, roughly 10 years ago, I was sitting in a crowded Pacific Heights restaurant when Alice Adams walked in with a man. She was about 60 at the time, and she was wearing a skirt that fell an inch or so above her knees and flat heels without stockings. – Mary Gaitskill
The hard truth is that there are people who believe they’re writers and work hard at it and are sincere about it, but they don’t make it. You have to be prepared for that possibility. – Mary Gaitskill
Everyone says ‘Anna Karenina’ is about individual desire going against society, but I actually think the opposite is stronger: the way societal forces limit the expression of the individual. – Mary Gaitskill
There is a sense in which we have – like, I go in to teach a class; I may be somewhat different than I would be talking to you, although it’s related because it’s public. I’m very different with my roommate or my lover or my cats. But I don’t know if that means you’re acting, really, if you’re being truthful. – Mary Gaitskill
I had a strong conviction that there was something out there in the world that was wonderful. – Mary Gaitskill
I think that with the proliferation of writing programs, people tend to forget that you also have to get used to working alone, and you have to be your own support. – Mary Gaitskill
The two basic social identities were Normal and Greaser; although a few sophisticated girls wore peace signs, hippies didn’t exist, and while a seminal punk band, Iggy and the Stooges, was playing in nearby Ann Arbor, punk didn’t exist yet, either. – Mary Gaitskill
I believe that the truest parts of people can be buried, and for many different reasons. – Mary Gaitskill
People say that if you talk too much about sex, you take away the mystery. I say, if you’re somebody who likes to talk, talk all you want – it’s not listening. You will never take away the mystery. – Mary Gaitskill
When looking out the window and watching the water becomes a drama, then literally everything is a drama. – Mary Gaitskill
You can’t tell an 18-year-old to keep it down and turn off Britney Spears or whatever it is that they listen to. – Mary Gaitskill
