Im finding, as I get older, that Im not much of a believer in redemption. I mean, I believe in redemption in real life – redemption does happen, and its cool when it does – but I find myself getting leery of my desire for it in stories (especially my own). – George Saunders
A John Updike is a once-in-a-generation phenomenon, if that generation is lucky: so comfortable in so many genres, the same lively, generous intelligence suffusing all he did. – George Saunders
The scariest thought in the world is that someday Ill wake up and realize Ive been sleepwalking through my life: underappreciating the people I love, making the same hurtful mistakes over and over, a slave to neuroses, fear, and the habitual. – George Saunders
When I was a kid, I took The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family very seriously. It was a world to me in the same way that the Greek myths would have been had I read them. You know, Marcia is Athena and Mr. Brady is Zeus. – George Saunders
I never thought Id be doing poetry books. I never really studied poetry. But the first one I did was after my mother died, and I realized that people sort of think and talk about her style and fashion, but in fact, what made her the person she was was really her love of reading and ideas. – Caroline Kennedy