“It isn’t a fact universally acknowledged that a person who mistakes his opinions for facts may also mistake himself for God.”
Sari Botton
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Unapologetic Women
Siri Hustvedt on Knausgaard’s ‘Feminine Text’ and the Gendering of Literature
A deep examination of gender bias among readers and writers alike.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Belly Chains on a Baby Bump: What It’s Like to Be Pregnant in Prison
“One woman [told me] that if she didn’t keep her shackles on, she wouldn’t be able to go to her appointment and [that] other women have been denied access to prenatal vitamins.”
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Unapologetic Women
‘The One Who Gives Birth to Herself’: Rachel Syme on Empowerment and Agency Through Posting Selfies
It’s difficult to select just one perfect quote as a representative sample of Rachel Syme’s excellent ode to the selfie, at Matter.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
When Your Name Precedes You: Jeannie Vanasco On Feeling Bound to the Dead Older Sibling She’s Named For
“I was sixteen, the age Jeanne would always be.”
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
‘Unyielding Boredom’: On the Slow Passage of Time Behind Bars
“I may have laughed more, and harder, there than anytime in my life. (Also, cried. Also, raged.)”
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Searching for Meaning Inside a Tech Company’s First Bookstore
University Book Store—begun by students in 1900—is just up the road from University Village, and while they serve superficially different markets, it’s difficult not to see Amazon’s choice of location as yet another act of aggression toward indie bookstores, whose owners and employees are particularly suspicious of the company’s motives. Speaking over her reading-stack-as-topography desk […]
Posted inFiction, Nonfiction, Profiles & Interviews, Quotes, Unapologetic Women
‘Don’t You Write Anything Happy?’: Chinelo Okparanta on Learning from Public Readings
Once, I did a reading in New York where an older lady came up to me afterwards and said, “Your writing is beautiful, and there’s no doubt you’re a great writer, but I’m sorry I won’t be reading any more of that story. That was just too painful for me.” Then, a year or two […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
‘Why I Created My Own World’: Mark Hogancamp on ‘Marwencol,’ The Fantasy Town Where He’s a Hero
“I know Hogancamp’s story well, but every time I hear it, I’m struck by his resilience, and also by how cruel and violent people can be.”
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
‘The Biggest Test for Our Relationship Yet’: Catherine LaSota on Joining Her Husband at Burning Man
When we purchased our Burning Man tickets, Karl said to me, “All first-timers have a nervous breakdown of some kind.” We didn’t know that my breakdown would come on the first night. Burning Man presents a lot of unfamiliar stimuli all at once. Hugs from everyone! Naked boobies everywhere! Manual labor in an inhospitable environment! […]